Orlen S.A., Poland’s largest energy group, cancelled a long-term LNG deal with QatarEnergy on November 10, saying the Qatari state company’s force majeure leaves it unable to deliver. Orlen is the first known buyer to cancel a long-term contract with QatarEnergy since the Iran war disrupted Qatar’s exports.
The terminated deal covers 1 million tonnes of LNG a year, about 15.3 terawatt-hours, and ties its price to crude oil. Orlen puts its 2026 value at about €570 million (2.5 billion zlotys). The deal dates to June 29, 2009, when Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo, now part of Orlen, signed it. Shipments started in 2016 and were due to continue until 2034, and the contract stays in force for 60 more days after the termination notice.
Orlen keeps a second QatarEnergy contract that prices LNG off gas-market quotations and supplies as much as 1 million tonnes annually until 2034. The company says the termination does not threaten supply, because its own fields and long-term agreements cover its full gas needs.
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After Iranian attacks hit its Ras Laffan and Mesaieed sites, QatarEnergy stopped LNG production on March 2 and declared force majeure on affected contracts two days later. Qatar lost about 17% of its LNG export capacity in the strikes, CEO Saad al-Kaabi said, at an estimated cost of US$20 billion a year in revenue.
The company has since extended the force majeure through December for Italy’s Edison and to year-end for buyers in Pakistan and Bangladesh, while tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stays risky. A QatarEnergy tanker, the Al Kharsaah, is scheduled to reach Świnoujście, Poland’s LNG terminal, on November 14, according to shipping data. If it docks as scheduled, Orlen will receive its first Qatari LNG since QatarEnergy invoked force majeure.
The terminated contract follows oil prices. Market participants put its formula near 16% of Brent, while Orlen’s second Qatari deal tracks gas-market benchmarks.
