MOL Group continues to diversify oil supply in the region: the company has imported 85,000 tons of CPC blend crude oil and signed an oil trading agreement with Kazakhstan's national oil company, KazMunayGas (KMG). The relationship between MOL and KMG dates back to 2004 and continues to strengthen: at the end of 2024, the companies signed a cooperation agreement to leverage opportunities in Kazakhstan. The current oil trading agreement further strengthens the security of supply for the Central and Eastern European region.
Credit: MOL Group
A shipment of CPC (Caspian Pipeline Consortium) crude oil has arrived from the port of Novorossiysk to Omišalj, Croatia. The 85,000 tons of CPC blend, primarily consisting of Kazakh crude oil, further increases the volume of seaborne crude oil coming into the region. Kazakh crude oil plays an essential role in MOL Group's oil diversification programme, being one of the 14 oil types already tested at the Bratislava refinery and regularly imported into the region.
"MOL Group has been working for over a decade to enhance the Adria pipeline and its associated infrastructure, improve the flexibility of refinery technology, and establish new, commercially reliable supply routes. Identifying reliable suppliers and high-quality alternative crude oil types is an integral part of this process. We are delighted to strengthen our cooperation year by year with our Kazakh partners, building upon more than two decades of successful collaboration. Our latest oil trading agreement represents an important milestone for the entire Central and Eastern European region and clearly demonstrates our belief in reliable, fair partnerships and continuous problem-solving," said Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President of Downstream at MOL Group.
MOL and KMG elevated their relationship to a new level at the end of 2024 by becoming strategic partners, exploring opportunities in hydrocarbon exploration and production, technology transfer, crude oil supply, and petrochemicals. Last year's agreement focused on expanding existing exploration and production cooperation (MOL, KMG, and China's Sinopec jointly produce gas and gas condensate at the Rozhkovskoye field) and applying MOL's technology in Kazakhstan. The current oil trading agreement further enhances supply security for Central and Eastern Europe.
Recently, MOL Group also signed a commercial agreement with MVM, importing 160,000 tons of Azerbaijani crude oil annually, accounting for 1.5% of MOL’s crude oil processing. Similar to Kazakh crude oil, MOL Group has been working with Azerbaijani crude oil for several years: the company acquired a stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oilfield in 2020, from which it delivered 5 million barrels of crude oil to the region last year.