ORLEN Group’s investment in Mažeikiai gathers pace
An Italian-designed reactor, which lies at the core of investments in deep crude conversion, has arrived in Lithuania. This key component of the hydrocracking unit will be transported to ORLEN Group’s refinery in Mažeikiai within the next two weeks. The new plant will make it possible to increase the output of high-margin products as early as 2025, thereby enhancing the profitability of the Lithuanian facility and bolstering the energy security of the entire region.
“ORLEN Group’s investment in Mažeikiai is the largest Polish project ever carried out in Lithuania. We are progressing on schedule. The plant will bring about a substantial improvement in the profitability and margins of the Mažeikiai refinery, making the company less dependent on the volatile macroeconomic environment. This will enable further development of the company towards new products and extension of the value chain,” says Daniel Obajtek, CEO and President of the Management Board of ORLEN.
Measuring over 90 meters in length, the reactor arrived at the port of Klaipeda in early August. It was unloaded onto an 88-axle, 95 meters long and 6.5 meters wide, modular semi-trailer. The total weight of the load is approximately 2,200 tonnes, with the reactor itself weighing around 1,500 tonnes. The transport is planned to start at the weekend and will take place during night hours at an average speed of 3 km/h. The designated route covers approximately 145 kilometres and will traverse regional roads in Klaipeda, Kretinga, Skuodas, and Mažeikiai. The transport will be carried out by Mammoet. The logistical operation is estimated to take approximately two weeks and has been planned in collaboration with the Lithuanian General Directorate of Roads.
The project to build the deep crude conversion unit in Mažeikiai is the largest ever capex project carried out by the ORLEN Group in Lithuania. The project is slated for completion by the end of 2024 and will add as much as about EUR 68m to annual EBITDA. This will be achieved by increasing the yield of high-margin products by even 12%, to the level of 84%, from less than 72% today. Currently, in order to produce the expected fuels volume, ORLEN Lietuva processes up to 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year. Once the hydrocracking unit is put in operation, it will be possible to obtain a similar volume of fuels with the processing of 8 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
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