MOSCOW (MRC) -- Poland would like to increase its stake in oil refiner PKN Orlen as a result of the company's merger with rival Lotos, reported Reuters with reference to a deputy state assets minister's statement.
“Poland’s treasury holds only a 27% stake in PKN Orlen. As a result of the (Lotos) transaction we would like significantly increase the treasury’s share in the combined group,” said Deputy State Assets Minister Zbigniew Gryglas.
The state currently holds a 53.19% stake in Lotos.
As MRC wrote before, Poland’s PKN Orlen said in August 2020 it had signed a non-binding agreement with the state treasury and Grupa Lotos to shape a deal to take direct or indirect capital control of fellow state company Lotos.
Also, in line with the Polish government policy of creating large “national champion” industrial groups capable of competing in global markets, Orlen in July launched a process to acquire oil and gas exploration and production company PGNiG, another group contolled by the Polish state.
We remind that in H1 September 2019, Honeywell announced that PKN ORLEN had licensed the UOP MaxEne process, which can increase production of ethylene and aromatics and improve the flexibility of gasoline production. The project, for the PKN Orlen facility in Plock, Poland, currently is in the basic engineering stage.
Ethylene is the main feedstock for the production of polyethylene (PE).
According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE).
PKN Orlen would be the first refining and petrochemicals company in Europe to use the Honeywell UOP MaxEne technology for molecule management of a naphtha stream to produce high-quality products including olefins, aromatics and gasoline.
MRC