PKN Orlen will enter new markets this year. The company is going to invest in electrical power engineering as well as exploration and mining of oil and gas. 200 million PLN was reserved for this last segment in the 2011 investment budget. The expenses may be even higher, as the company also wants to spend some of the money earned by selling their shares in Polkomtel on exploration.
Jacek Krawiec, the President and CEO of Orlen, hopes that the transaction will be done by June. - “We are also analysing the prospect of separating the PVC and fertilised production lines from Anwil in order to sell them. The interest in these assets is considerable”, says the company’s CEO. The company also considers another sales of the mandatory oil reserves.
Disposing of the Możejki plant will also provide an additional influx of cash. A recommendation from the Nomura bank is expected in March. PKN also says that 2011 will be an intensive year for upstream development: exploration drilling and other works are planned on all licences owned by the company. At the break of 2011 and 2012, the first drilling in the Latvian shelf will be made (together with Kuwait Energy Company), while three drillings in Sierakow (with PGNiG) and Lublin region are planned for the second half of 2011. Jacek Krawiec declares that seismic works will also be conducted, and the locations for shale gas excavation will be assigned. According to the company, first drilling should be done by the end of this year.
In Q3 of 2011, Orlen will finally decide on the investment in the gas and steam power plant in Włocławek. This, however, is just a formality. The company has already received a permit to connect to the energy network last year, and an environmental permit followed this January. The company is now in the process of selecting the main contractor for the plant. As we have learned, PKN is in talks with five companies. The contractor will be selected at the break of Q3 and Q4. Construction on the 400-500 MW power plant is scheduled to begin in 2012. The 1.5 billion PLN investment should be finished by 2014. Orlen is still looking for a partner on this enterprise, but they may as well decide to work on it alone. A second 500 MW block is also planned in Płock.
PKN showed their 2010 results yesterday. The company's EBIT and net profit are at a five-year high, while their sales volume (over 34 million tonnes) is the highest ever. The company also managed to reduce their debt by 2.5 billion PLN.
Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Michał Duszczyk, 2011-02-11