Poland's Orlen to supply Ukraine's Naftogaz 3 LNG cargoes and fuel

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Polish energy group Orlen will supply Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz with three cargoes of liquefied natural gas in the first quarter of 2027, while state-owned Ukrnafta will receive fuel worth up to $500 million, Naftogaz said on Monday.

The company did not disclose the exact volume of gas Ukraine will receive at the height of the heating season, which could be among the most difficult in nearly five years of war due to continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system.

Naftogaz had previously purchased US-origin LNG from Orlen.

In addition to the natural gas, Naftogaz said its subsidiary Ukrnafta will receive motor fuel from Orlen worth up to $500 million, "helping to further strengthen the stability of fuel supplies amid a global oil crisis caused by events in the Middle East".

Globally, fuel prices have been inflated by disruption caused by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

In Ukraine, retail prices for motor fuel have risen by 8% to 10% since the start of the month, tracking gains in European prices, and diesel has edged close to the psychological threshold of 100 hryvnias ($2.24) per litre.

Ukraine is fully dependent on imported fuel because Russian missile attacks have destroyed Ukraine's oil-refining capacity.

UKRAINE STILL PRODUCES CRUDE OIL

Although Ukraine has lost its oil refineries, it continues to produce crude oil. Naftogaz said that the agreements with Orlen will allow Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil producer, to refine it at refineries outside the country.

"The document makes it possible to explore the supply of Ukrainian crude oil for processing at refineries in Central Europe," Naftogaz said.

Ukraine no longer discloses figures on its crude output, but in 2021, before Russia's invasion began in 2022, it  produced around 1.5 million metric tons of crude and gas condensates. 

It operates the southern branch of the Soviet-era Druzhba oil pipeline, which carries Russian crude to refineries in Hungary and Slovakia.

Kyiv has also used the route to transport its own oil to Eastern Europe.

In January 2026, a Russian drone damaged equipment on the pipeline in the Ukrainian town of Brody, halting oil flows for several months and prompting protests from Hungary and Slovakia, which accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying the pipeline's restart. Kyiv has denied that allegation.

The pipeline resumed operations in April.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Barbara Lewis)