Why Orlen Rushed to Replace Saudi Crude After the Petroline Shutdown

Saudi Arabia’s shutdown of the East–West Pipeline—known as Petroline—created an immediate logistics risk for Orlen rather than an instant refinery stoppage. The pipeline had carried crude west to Yanbu on the Red Sea; from there, barrels could move through Egypt toward the Mediterranean terminal at Sidi Kerir and on to Gdansk. With that route disrupted and some European term cargoes reportedly cancelled or deferred, Orlen turned rapidly to the spot market. 4

The direct reason for the tender spree

Industry sources told Reuters that Orlen purchased several spot cargoes through tenders on Friday and Monday after the pipeline attack. Argus reported that Orlen had issued at least eight tenders from September 11, seeking crude grades from the Mediterranean, North Sea and West Africa. The precise tender count depends on the reporting cutoff, but the direction was clear: Orlen was filling an expected Saudi supply gap before it affected refinery operations. 14

The company said feedstock deliveries to its refineries were continuing without disruption. That distinction matters: a buyer can have near-term inventories and scheduled cargoes while still needing to buy replacements quickly when future term deliveries become uncertain. 2

Saudi shipments to Poland were set to drop sharply

LSEG shipping data showed 10 tankers carrying a combined 6.6 million barrels departing Sidi Kerir for Gdansk in August. For September, three tankers carrying 2.1 million barrels were scheduled on the same route, including two provisional deals. That is a decline of roughly 4.5 million barrels, or about two-thirds, month on month. 2

Saudi Aramco had become Orlen’s top supplier after 2022 and supplied around 40% of the crude processed by the group, according to reporting cited by Reuters. That exposure helps explain why a potential interruption to Saudi logistics prompted immediate replacement buying even before Orlen reported an operational shortfall. 1

Why Petroline mattered to European deliveries

The East–West Pipeline links Saudi oil fields to Yanbu, allowing exports through the Red Sea rather than relying on the Strait of Hormuz. For European customers, crude from Yanbu could be sent to Egypt’s Ain Sukhna terminal, moved through the SUMED pipeline to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean, and then shipped onward to Europe. 4

A shutdown of this corridor therefore threatened more than one loading point. It reduced the reliability of a route that connected Saudi supply to Mediterranean delivery infrastructure used by European refiners, including Orlen. Saudi Arabia had not provided a definitive repair timetable in the cited reporting, increasing the value of prompt, flexible spot procurement. 4

The barrels Orlen sought instead

Traders said Orlen bought North Sea grades including Grane, Johan Sverdrup and Johan Castberg. It also sought other alternatives, including U.S. WTI Midland and Kazakh CPC Blend, and later tendered for North Sea or Algerian crude for October delivery. Public reporting did not establish all final tender awards or volumes, so it is not possible to determine the full replacement slate from the available information. 1

These purchases were a short-term response, but they fit a broader shift away from single-source dependence.

Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup deal provided a longer-term buffer

In August, Orlen signed a three-year agreement with Equinor for crude from Norway’s Johan Sverdrup field, with deliveries beginning in September. Orlen said contracted volumes could exceed 9 million tonnes annually, equivalent to up to one-quarter of the group’s annual crude demand, for refineries in Poland, Czechia and Lithuania. 13

That agreement did not eliminate the immediate need to cover disrupted Saudi cargoes. It did, however, expand Orlen’s access to a major North Sea supply source—the same region from which traders said it was already obtaining emergency replacement cargoes. 113

Why the disruption moved the wider oil market

The outage had consequences beyond Poland. Industry sources estimated that Yanbu’s stored crude could sustain exports for only five to seven days at prevailing rates if the pipeline remained offline. The route had been moving about 4 million barrels per day to Yanbu, an amount described as roughly 4% of global oil supply. Those estimates were sourced from traders and buyers rather than confirmed by Saudi authorities, so they indicated risk rather than a certain supply loss. 3

The prospect of constrained Saudi loadings added to wider Middle East supply and shipping concerns. On September 15, reports that Yanbu loadings had been suspended, alongside Libyan field stoppages, helped lift Brent crude by $2.81 to $108.49 a barrel in intraday trading and pushed U.S. WTI up $3.29. 17

Bottom line

Orlen’s spot tenders were a defensive supply-security move. The Petroline shutdown put the Saudi-to-Egypt-to-Poland delivery chain at risk just as September shipments were scheduled to fall to 2.1 million barrels from 6.6 million barrels in August. Orlen had not yet reported a refinery disruption, but rapidly sourcing compatible crude from the North Sea and farther afield was the practical way to protect operations while Saudi export logistics remained uncertain. 12