Marine TerminalThe Butinge Terminal is the newest facility of ORLEN Lietuva situated in an all-year-round ice-free area of the Baltic Sea. Its history started in 1995, when the company Butinges Nafta was established for the purpose of constructing and operating the Terminal. In 1998, Butinges Nafta was merged into Mazeikiu Nafta.
The first tanker was loaded in Butinge in the summer of 1999 and took onboard a shipment of YUKOS crude oil. The Terminal can export up to 14 million tons of crude oil a year. As an import and export terminal, it is capable of not only exporting crude oil but also accepting import cargoes.
ORLEN Lietuva is committed to maintaining environmental safety of the Butinge Terminal. Back during the construction of the facility, an environmental monitoring program was introduced that included tests of sea and ground waters. With the start of the terminal operations, a new, expanded environmental monitoring program was launched.
The Butinge Terminal applies a number of advanced environmental technologies including a computer-based leak detection system.
The complex of the Butinge Terminal consists of a crude oil pipeline, which connects the facility with the Mazeikiai Refinery, onshore terminal equipment and tanks at Butinge, offshore pipeline, and a single point mooring (SPM) buoy. These units form the onshore and offshore parts of the Terminal.
Pipeline SystemORLEN Lietuva owns and operates a system of pipelines, which includes two pump stations near Birzai and another near Joniskis, crude oil pipelines to the Mazeikiai Refinery and Butinge Terminal, a crude oil pipeline leading to Ventspils, and a products pipeline supplying diesel fuel to Ventspils.
Construction of pipelines in Lithuania started in 1966, with crude oil starting to flow through the pipelines in 1968. In 1992, the company Naftotiekis was established for the operation of Lithuanian pipelines, which later, in 1998, was incorporated into Mazeikiu Nafta in 1998.
In spring 2002, the pipelines and Būtingė terminal formed one division of the pipeline and terminal operations.
The first crude oil pipeline Polotsk–Biržai–Ventspils was built in 1968 (length in Lithuania — 87 km, annual throughput capacity — 13–14 million tons of crude oil, pipeline diameter — 720 mm). Product pipeline Ilukstė-Biržai-Ventspils was built in 1971 (length in Lithuania — 87 km, annual throughput capacity — 8 million tons of petroleum products (diesel fuel), pipeline diameter — 530 mm).
Crude oil pipeline Polotsk–Biržai–Mažeikiai was built in 1979. Its length in Lithuania is 225.5 km, annual throughput capacity — 16 million tons of crude oil, pipeline diameter — 720 mm.
The Mažeikiai Refinery and Biržai Pump Station, located on the main crude oil pipeline section (stretching from the oil fields of Western Siberia and the Western Urals via Polotsk, Byelorussia), are connected by the 28-inch pipeline, with the annual capacity 16.2 million tons of crude oil.
Currently the Company own and operated about 500 km of the crude oil and petroleum product pipelines in Lithuania:
Lithuanian section of crude oil pipeline Polotsk – Ventspils — 87.384 km;
Lithuanian section of product pipeline Polotsk – Ventspils — 87.384 km;
Lithuanian section of crude oil pipeline Polotsk – Mažeikiai — 225.514 km;
Crude oil pipeline Mažeikiai – Būtingė — 91,5 km.
Until July 2006, Russian crude oil was delivered to Lithuania by two crude oil pipelines via Novopolotsk (Byelorussia) to Biržai, from where one 175-km section runs to the Mažekiai Refinery, the other section — to Ventspils.
There are a number of pump stations of various capacities located approximately every 120 kilometers on the crude oil pipeline routes. On the Lithuanian territory, there are three crude oil pump stations. The pipelines have valves installed approximately every 20 kilometers. The valves and pumps of the crude oil stations are controlled at the central control room in Biržai; the valves and pumps of the crude oil pipeline Mažeikiai – Būtingė are controlled at Būtingė control room. The pipeline pressures are controlled in the similar manner.
Our company understands the successful operation of the pipeline system as a combination of its efficient economics and complete environmental safety, and ORLEN Lietuva cares both of high transportation volumes and protection of the environment.