Poland’s central bank said that in the first quarter, the country’s refineries boosted crude oil imports by 2.2% to nearly 6.5 mt, mainly supported by increases from Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Even when Warsaw has curbed its dependence in recent years and buys more oil from other sources such as the US and Nigeria, most of the crude refined by Polish refineries are still coming from Russia via pipelines.
Oil supplies from Russia climbed in the first three months of 2020 to more than 70% of the total oil imports, compared with last year’s 61.5% and 2018’s 68%. The reading in the first quarter also ended six quarters in a row for a drop in Russian imports.
According to the central bank, the average oil prices imported to Poland jumped to PLN229/barrel (USD59.2/barrel) in the period, from PLN223/barrel (USD57.6/barrel) a year ago as the Zloty has weakened against the greenback.
In the first quarter, the price was not yet feeling the impact of the slump in global oil prices due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the market oil price is reflected in imports with a monthly delay.
