Grupa LOTOS will upgrade the four sulfur production units operating at its refinery in Gdańsk. This will enable the refinery to desulfurise 900 thousand tonnes per year of fuels recovered, under the EFRA Project, from high-sulfur heavy residue remaining after crude oil processing.

In 2015 LOTOS reported a model refining margin of USD 7.76/bbl, compared with USD 6.08/bbl the year before.

The LOTOS refinery needs additional hydrogen volumes to increase its fuel production by nearly 1 million tonnes annually following implementation of the EFRA Project. Hydrogen is required for processing heavy oil residues into high-margin products and for fuel desulfurization. It will be generated by a Hydrogen Generation Unit (HGU), constructed as part of the EFRA Project.

In November 2015, LOTOS reported a model refining margin of USD 8.6 per barrel, up 47% on the previous month and up almost 4% year on year.

The choice and application of the coking technology to process the heavy residue generated in crude processing will allow Grupa LOTOS to increase its product yields by more than 30% compared with other residue handling methods. Coking is a low-emission process, which is more efficient and more cost-effective than gasification or burning heavy residue in the CHP plant.

LOTOS-Air BP Polska and the Olsztyn Mazury Regional Airport in Szymany signed an agreement for the supply of aviation fuels. The Gdańsk-based fuel company, currently offering aircraft refuelling services in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Katowice and Lublin, now expands its presence to Szymany.

LOTOS Kolej, a Grupa LOTOS S.A. subsidiary, has launched rail freight operations in Germany, a very promising market for the carrier.

LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS has entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway to acquire a portfolio of assets in the Sleipner gas field located in the North Sea.

After the first three quarters of 2015, LOTOS posted a consolidated operating profit (EBIT) of PLN 743m (against a PLN 318m loss in the previous year). EBITDA (EBIT before amortisation/depreciation) for the nine months stood at PLN 1.28bn (compared with PLN 0.27bn in the previous year).

Grupa LOTOS S.A. and the Italian company KT-Kinetics Technology S.p.A. (KT) signed a contract for the construction of a Hydrowax Vacuum Distillation Unit (HVDU), which is part of a larger complex being constructed under the EFRA capital project. The value of the HVDU unit is approximately EUR 36m. The unit is to be commissioned and placed in service by the end of January 2018.

With a symbolic cornerstone laying ceremony at its refinery in Gdańsk, Grupa LOTOS S.A. marked the start of construction works on a deep oil conversion complex under the EFRA Project. The total cost of the project is estimated at ca. PLN 2.3bn.

LOTOS Petrobaltic, the sole company engaged in crude oil and natural gas exploration and production in the Polish economic zone of the Baltic Sea, has launched initial production from a new field. The field is the B8 oil field, holding an estimated 3.5m tonnes of oil.