Kuwaiti oil at the Port of Gdansk

24.10.2006

The mission of the 1970s built Northern Port was the handling of exported and imported oil - mainly for the purposes of the Gdansk Refinery. In practical terms, for over a decade now, the Northern Port is processing oil predominantly for export. This year saw the handling of fuels that was brought for PKN Orlen. However, on 21 October this year, a call at the Northern Port of a tanker "South Sea" that brought one million barrels of oil in its tanks may have given a rise to a continuous diversification process of oil supplies.

In line with the forecasts made by representatives of Lotos Group, in 2012 the Gdansk Refinery is planning to process 10.5 million tonnes of oil, of which 40% under the contract with Kuwait Petroleum (partly implemented by "South Sea", while the second part is due to arrive in Gdansk Port in December this year) serves as a test and, if the raw material is found to meet expectations of the Gdansk-based refinery, a long-term contract will be signed.

According to representatives of "Naftoport" - a company providing services to the tanker - even coming close to the 2012 forecasted shipment volumes will pose no challenge to them in terms of providing services adequate to such a large number of tankers and volume of oil. Given the currently available technological solutions, "Naftoport" is capable of handling up to 70 million tonnes of oil annually, providing services to two or three ships a day.