Lotos eyes US oil

WSE-listed, state-owned gas giant Lotos is considering buying oil in the US, although doesn’t expect first deliveries this year. “We are working intensively on opening up the US routes when it comes to oil,” company’s deputy CEO Jarosław Kawula said. He added that currently, based on information from potential suppliers, Lotos is developing the most optimum blend of the raw material to meet the refinery requirements. The company wants to order a test delivery first to its refinery in Gdańsk, before committing to a longer deal, but it probably won’t happen this year. “If I said I wanted it to happen by the end of the year, it would be too optimistic,” Kawula said. At the same time, the company is continuing to buy raw materials from the North Sea as well as the Middle East. It currently buys 26 percent of the raw materials it processes from other sources than Russian Urals oil. “The overriding objective is the economic interest of the enterprise,” Kawula explained.