PKN to shut Mazeikiu Nafta for 5-6 weeks in October 2010
Polish oil group PKN Orlen PKNA.WA said on Thursday its Lithuanian refiner Mazeikiu Nafta will shut for five to six weeks in October and November 2010 for maintenance.
PKN bought Mazeikiu in late 2006, but was immediately faced with a large fire that cut capacity for more than a year. It has also been frustrated in efforts to buy Lithuania's main oil export terminal from the state.
"We plan to have major renovations next year. The technologies demand that the whole plant be stopped," PKN's Krystian Pater, the new CEO of the Mazeikiu refinery, told reporters after meeting Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
"This will last five to six weeks in October-November. We are doing everything to shorten the stoppage, and we still have a whole year to prepare," he added.
He added that PKN would not carry out investment projects, including an oil product pipeline to the coast, until the question of the Klaipedos nafta oil terminal had been solved.
"Even if the government does not give up the shares in the terminal, maybe we will be able to sign long-term contracts which would guarantee us a dominant position in the terminal. Only then we would be able to build product pipeline," he said.
He said the company needed to export 6 million tonnes of oil products.
Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas told reporters that the government did not want to sell the oil terminal as it viewed it as strategic asset, particularly as Lithuania was considering building an LNG terminal there. "We cannot discuss any technical projects or possibilities about a product pipeline, because it (the terminal) must serve as an alternative gas supply point for Lithuania. This position is very clear," he said.
PKN has filed a $250 million case at a London arbitration court against Yukos International, accusing the now bankrupt Russian oil group of misrepresenting the state of Mazeikiu when it and the Lithuanian government sold PKN a controlling stake for $2.5 billion in 2006.
PKN bought Mazeikiu in late 2006, but was immediately faced with a large fire that cut capacity for more than a year. It has also been frustrated in efforts to buy Lithuania's main oil export terminal from the state.
"We plan to have major renovations next year. The technologies demand that the whole plant be stopped," PKN's Krystian Pater, the new CEO of the Mazeikiu refinery, told reporters after meeting Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
"This will last five to six weeks in October-November. We are doing everything to shorten the stoppage, and we still have a whole year to prepare," he added.
He added that PKN would not carry out investment projects, including an oil product pipeline to the coast, until the question of the Klaipedos nafta oil terminal had been solved.
"Even if the government does not give up the shares in the terminal, maybe we will be able to sign long-term contracts which would guarantee us a dominant position in the terminal. Only then we would be able to build product pipeline," he said.
He said the company needed to export 6 million tonnes of oil products.
Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas told reporters that the government did not want to sell the oil terminal as it viewed it as strategic asset, particularly as Lithuania was considering building an LNG terminal there. "We cannot discuss any technical projects or possibilities about a product pipeline, because it (the terminal) must serve as an alternative gas supply point for Lithuania. This position is very clear," he said.
PKN has filed a $250 million case at a London arbitration court against Yukos International, accusing the now bankrupt Russian oil group of misrepresenting the state of Mazeikiu when it and the Lithuanian government sold PKN a controlling stake for $2.5 billion in 2006.