OREANDA-NEWS. The Polish energy concern Orlen has signed a long-term contract with the world's largest oil concern Saudi Aramco for the supply of oil.

The Saudi giant will supply Poland with 200-337 thousand barrels per day (10-17 million tons per year). In addition, Saudi Aramco will acquire 30% of Lotos' Polish refinery in Gdansk. This deal is necessary for the future merger of Orlen and Lotos - the latter needs to get rid of excess assets by January 14th.

According to Kommersant, supplies from Saudi Arabia will cover up to half of Poland's oil needs. Experts believe that with their start, Orlen will reduce purchases of Russian oil by sea, but will maintain the volumes supplied through the Druzhba pipeline.

In addition, experts do not exclude that in the future the expansion of Saudi Aramco into Eastern Europe may create risks for Russian oil suppliers.

Saudi Arabia first entered the Polish oil market back in 2015. The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, then said that the Saudis were offering dumping prices for deliveries through Gdansk. In recent years, Polish refineries, which have traditionally been focused on the Russian brand Urals, have increasingly reduced their dependence on fuel supplies from Russia.