Lotos and PKN Orlen discuss joining forces to look for oil

On June 18 the directors of the two companies will meet in Gdańsk to hammer out future cooperation. "One of the discussed topics will be searching for oil reserves," confirmed Lotos' president Paweł Olechnowicz, while Orlen's spokesperson Dawid Piekarz declared that, "One possible area of cooperation is in gaining access to oil reserves." Analysts welcomed the news with Rafał Salwa, an independent analyst stating that, "This is a logical move since the State Treasury controls both companies and its aim is to diversify the supplies of energy sources." Representatives of Orlen suggest that Lotos could act as a partner in Orlen's bid to gain access to Latvian oil reserves in the Baltic shelf. Lotos is also interested in the Latvian oil reserves and is the majority shareholder of Petrobaltic, which is the only Polish company which has experience in mining oil from under the sea bed. However, the president of Lotos announced that his company is also in talks with other possible partners, but refused to reveal any details. (Parkiet, pp. 1, 11; Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 8-9) E.B.