Russian oil constituted 63 percent of the total amount of oil imported by Poland in the first half of 2019, considerably less than in 2018 when it was on the level of 77 percent, while Saudi Arabia has been expanding its share, the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) reported.

“Although 100 percent of crude oil imported to Poland originated from Russia by 1996, the share of other providers has been marking an upward curve since a couple of years,” reads the report.



The 63 percent of share in the Polish import of oil that Russia enjoyed in the first half of 2019 signifies a clear drop from 77 percent in 2018 and 80 percent it boasted in 2017.



The PIE also pointed to Saudi Arabia as the rising rival of Russia with the Kingdom’s share in Polish import of crude oil settling at 15 percent in the first half of 2019. Juxtaposing this outcome with data from 2018 when Saudi Arabia enjoyed only eight percent of hold on the Polish import of crude oil, the report shows clear improvement for the Saudi exporter.



Nigeria – a new and up-and-coming player on the Polish oil market – acquired seven percent presence in Poland by June 2019. Next in line are the UK with nearly five percent share, Kazakhstan and Norway both of which enjoyed a three percent share by the first half of 2019.



According to the PIE, “domestic deposits [of crude oil]... play an inferior role and constitute only three percent of the total demand.” The experts recalled that 66 percent of the domestic oil extraction takes place in northwestern Poland, 27 percent of the extraction takes place in the Polish economic zone on the Baltic Sea and the remaining seven percent is acquired in the Carpathian Mountains.



“There were 86 deposits documented in Poland all together, out of which 64 are being exploited,” reads the report.