Competitive environment

The ORLEN Group is the largest refiner in the CEE region. For information on its production assets, see the section ‘ORLEN Group in 2019’.

ORLEN Group production assets and key competitors in CEE / processing capacity [million tonnes].

Source: In-house analysis.

Information on competition in wholesale of petrochemical and refinery products, see the section ‘ORLEN Group in 2019’.

The ORLEN Group is the fourth largest electricity producer in Poland.

As at December 31st 2019, the Group owned power generating assets with a capacity of 1.8 GWe. Its market share was 5%, and the ENERGA Group, acquired in April 2020, held 2% of the market.

Two new generating assets were put into operation by PKN ORLEN in 2018 – one in Włocławek (463 MW) and one in Płock (608 MW), and 2019 was the first full year of both units operating at full capacity.

Energy groups’ shares of total volume of electricity fed into the grid in 2019

(source: URE)

For more information on the energy sector in Poland, including information pertaining to the ENERGA Group acquisition, see the presentation posted on the website and the ‘Energy Management’.

The ORLEN Group is the undisputed leader of retail fuel sales in Central Europe. At the end of 2019, it operated a total of 2,836 service stations, including 10 sites in Slovakia, the Group’s new home market.

The number of service stations and ORLEN Group’s market shares at the end of 2019 

Source: In-house analysis.

According to the Polish Organisation of Oil Industry and Trade (POPiHN), there were more than 7,800 service stations in Poland at the end of September 2019, an increase of 40 or so compared with the end of 2018. In 2019, the POPiHN was joined by Anwim (as an associate member), the operator of 223 MOYA service stations.

As at the end of 2019, the ORLEN Group had a network of 1,800 service stations on the Polish market (approximately 24% of all stations in the country), while the stations operated by international chains (BP, Shell, Circle-K, Amic, and Total) represented approximately 20% of the total. Independent operator stations (including smaller chains operating under a single brand) accounted for about 50% of all service stations in Poland. Among the chains of independently-operated stations, MOYA continued to grow at a vigorous pace. The number of supermarket service stations remained roughly unchanged (196 locations, representing around 2.5% of the total). The number of AS 24 and IDS self-service stations, also managed by foreign operators, was 46.

Service station networks in Poland

Source: In-house study based on POPiHN data as at September 30th 2019

With the completion of certain growth projects and successful adaptation to the changing competitive landscape in Poland, PKN ORLEN was able to maintain its share in the Polish market at 34.3%.

In 2019, as in previous years, one driver of the service stations market was the road network extension programme pursued in Poland. Following the opening of new expressway and motorway sections, more tenders to lease Motorway Service Areas (MSA) were called and new large service stations were opened at these locations. As at the end of 2019, there were 85 MSA service stations at Polish expressways or motorways, of which 33 (38.8%) were owned by PKN ORLEN. Currently, the Company is engaged in work on a further 11 projects to build MSA facilities.

The ORLEN Group maintained its leading position on the market, both in terms of the volume of sales and the size of the service station chain. In 2019, the Benzina chain comprised 416 sites, its market share having gone up to 24.5%.

In terms of the number of service stations, Hungary’s MOL is the second largest chain in the Czech Republic (with 304 locations). In terms of the market share, Tank Ono, a privately-owned discount chain, is the runner-up, with 41 stations and an approximately 15% share in the market. Other major players on the Czech market are the premium stations run by the two multinationals Shell and OMV, with a combined market share of just under 23%.

The number of service stations on the German market was about 14.5 thousand, with ORLEN Deutschland’s main competitors including international networks such as: Aral (BP Group), Shell, ESSO, Total (accounting for a nearly 60% share in the market and 44% of all stations) and the economy chains JET and HEM (almost 9% of all stations). In 2019, the number of service stations within each chain changed only slightly year on year. In terms of the number of service stations, Star is the eighth largest fuel retailer in Germany (and second to Jet in the economy segment).

The ORLEN Group has been present on the German market, the largest fuel consumer in Europe, since 2003. At the end of 2019, ORLEN Deutschland’s service station chain comprised 585 sites and, despite stiff competition, managed to grow its market share by 0.2pp, to 6.6%.

Viada, with 126 locations and a 22% market share, is the leader in terms of the size of the service station chain on the Lithuanian market. Together with Baltic Petroleum, Lithuania’s third largest chain, with which it has equity links, Viada controls 203 service stations and more than 32% of the market. Another retail chain is Circle K, the operator of 89 service stations (including 12 automated, self-service locations) with an almost 20% market share. Neste, operating 72 service stations, is another major player present on that market. At the end of 2019, the ORLEN Group’s retail chain in Lithuania, operated by the subsidiary ORLEN Baltics Retail, comprised 25 sites, which gave the Group an unchanged 4.7% share in the Lithuanian retail market.

As at the end of 2019, the number of service stations in Slovakia totalled 910. The main player and leader on the Slovak market is MOL, enjoying a 28% market share and operating 253 service stations under the Slovnaft brand. The source of supplies for the Slovnaft chain is MOL’s own refinery in Bratislava. Other multinationals (Shell, OMV, Lukoil) are also present in Slovakia, where they hold a combined market share of 21%, whereas local independent service stations account for the remaining 51% of the market. In 2019, the ORLEN Group also established a foothold on the Slovak retail market through its subsidiary Unipetrol a.s., and at the year’s end it already operated there 10 CODO service stations under the Benzina brand.