Poland sees no major disruption from Russian diesel ban

Polish fuel distributors are not expecting any immediate disruption to the country's diesel supply on the back of the EU's upcoming ban on Russian oil product imports, according to the country's oil industry association Popihn.

"There is no reason to expect major supply disruptions or sharp price hikes," the association said today, adding that diesel depots are full.

Polish diesel suppliers are prepared for the embargo and have been taking action to ensure steady domestic supplies, the association said. But it urged motorists to buy fuel responsibly and to not panic buy.

The EU's ban on imports of Russian diesel and other refined products comes into force on 5 February. Poland experienced panic buying and a steep rise in pump prices when the war in Ukraine started almost a year ago.

Poland's two main refineries in Plock and Gdansk meet approximately 70pc of the country's diesel consumption, with the remainder imported. Most of Poland's diesel imports at the moment are seaborne, Popihn said. Russia accounted for two-thirds of Polish diesel imports in 2021. Popihn has not yet published final figures for 2022, but it estimates that Russia's share fell to about 35-40pc last year as Polish importers moved to diversify supplies in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.

As a part of the diversification efforts, Polish integrated oil firm PKN Orlen set up a Switzerland-based trading subsidiary to buy seaborne diesel, mainly eyeing supplies from North America and the Middle East. The country's largest independent importer Unimot also set up a Geneva-based trading desk last year and it leased capacity at the Gulfhavn oil terminal in Denmark to import large diesel cargoes and reload them onto smaller vessels to ship to Polish ports.

By Tomasz Stepien