Lotos says it is not processing oil for Germany’s Leuna

WARSAW – Poland’s Grupa Lotos said on Tuesday it is not processing oil for TotalEnergies’ Leuna refinery in Germany, referring to a statement by the Polish climate minister that this was the case as a “slip of the tongue”.

Poland’s Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said on Friday the Gdansk refinery owned by Lotos was processing oil for the Leuna refinery.

“The statement that the Gdansk refinery is processing oil for TotalEnergies Leuna refinery in Germany should be treated as a slip of the tongue,” a Lotos spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“The words spoken at the press conference of Poland’s climate minister Anna Moskwa on May 6th 2022 concerned Naftoport, an oil and fuel terminal owned by the PERN Group.”

Naftoport, Poland’s oil terminal in Gdansk on the Baltic Sea, is linked to a pipeline system that allows the shipping of crude via Poland to Germany.

It has a capacity of 36 million tons of oil per year, above the needs of Polish refiners that process some 27 million tons per year.

A spokesperson for Poland’s state owned oil pipeline operator PERN, the majority owner of Naftoport, told Reuters on Friday that the terminal had potential to increase supplies to Germany.