Polish oil and gas group Orlen may suspend or terminate Olefins project

Wedoany.com Report-Nov 7, Polish oil and gas company Orlen said it is reassessing the future of its Olefin III petrochemical project due to profitability concerns, adding that it is exploring options including temporary suspension, or termination.

The project, which is expected to be wrapped up by early 2030, has an estimated completion cost of between 45 and 51 billion zlotys, Orlen said late on Wednesday.

"The choice of scenarios is driven by the protection of the company's interests and is based on analysis of the petrochemical market, macroeconomic situation, and the profitability of the project," the company said.

This follows the company's Tuesday announcement that its Olefin petrochemicals project would not generate positive cash flow in the future due to adverse economic conditions, leading to a writedown of 912 million zlotys ($225.37 million) of the value of its petrochemical business.

The project has already seen other investment writedowns, and Orlen has pledged to decide on its future before the end of this year.

"Although it's late to decide to halt work on the project, this is the construction that has caused the most controversy among minority investors", said Erste Group analyst Jakub Szkopek.

"The market should react positively due to the increase in FCF (free cash flow) in the years to come", he added.