Orlen facts for kids
 |
|
Orlen's headquarters in Płock, Poland
|
|
| Spółka Akcyjna | |
| Traded as |
|
| ISIN | ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=PLPKN0000018 PLPKN0000018] |
| Industry | Petroleum |
| Founded | Płock, Poland 7 September 1999 as Polski Koncern Naftowy |
| Headquarters | , |
|
Area served
|
Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Slovakia |
|
Key people
|
Ireneusz Fąfara (President and CEO) Wojciech Popiołek (Chairman of the supervisory board) |
| Products | Fuel, crude oil and other natural gas |
| Brands | Orlen, CPN, Star, Unipetrol, Benzina, Orlen Lietuva, Turmöl |
| Revenue | US$74.61 billion (2025) |
| US$1.91 billion (2025) | |
| Total assets | US$61.82 billion (2025) |
|
Number of employees
|
67,809 (2025) |
Orlen S.A. is a big Polish company that works with oil, petrol, and natural gas. It used to be called PKN Orlen. The company's main office is in Płock, Poland. Orlen is a multinational company, meaning it operates in many countries around the world.
Orlen owns important oil and gas companies in the Czech Republic and Lithuania, like Unipetrol and Orlen Lietuva. It has operations in countries such as Poland, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, and Slovakia.
The Polish government is the biggest owner of Orlen, holding almost half of its shares. Orlen is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In 2025, the company made over US$74.61 billion in revenue. It has more than 67,809 employees and runs over 3,400 petrol stations in seven countries. Orlen sells its products in over 100 countries worldwide.
Orlen is the largest company in Central and Eastern Europe. It is also recognized in major global rankings like Fortune Global 500.
Contents
How Orlen Started and Grew
The Beginning of Orlen (1999–2002)
Orlen was created in 1999. Before that, the Polish government decided to combine two state-owned companies. These were Centrala Produktów Naftowych, which sold petrol, and Petrochemia Płock, which ran oil refineries in Płock.
After these companies merged, the new company was first called Polski Koncern Naftowy (PKN). A few months later, the name Orlen was added as the brand name. The name "Orlen" comes from the Polish word "orzeł," which means "eagle," and "energia," which means "energy."
A Time of Change (2002)
In 2002, there was a big investigation involving Orlen's CEO, Andrzej Modrzejewski. He was accused of sharing secret company information. After this, a new CEO, Zbigniew Wrobel, took over. He wanted Orlen to grow bigger, especially in Western Europe. One of his first steps was to buy 295 petrol stations in Germany. At this time, Orlen was already the largest company in Poland.
Growing Internationally (2003–2014)
Orlen started to expand into other countries in the early 2000s. In 2003, Orlen bought 500 petrol stations in Northern Germany from another company called BP. By 2007, Orlen had 581 petrol stations in Germany, using brands like Star and Orlen.
In 2003, Orlen also started talking with MOL, a Hungarian oil company, about working together. They hoped to become stronger in the oil business in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2005, Orlen considered merging with MOL Group. If they had merged, they would have become a huge company controlling much of Central Europe's oil industry. However, this plan did not happen.
Instead, Orlen bought a large part of Unipetrol, a company in the Czech Republic. This was a big step for Orlen. In 2006, Orlen made its biggest investment ever by taking over Mažeikių Nafta, the largest company in Lithuania. This made Orlen the biggest company in Central Europe.
In 2007, after Orlen bought the refinery in Lithuania, Russia approved building a new oil pipeline. This pipeline would go through Belarus and Lithuania.
In 2010, Orlen had a revenue of $28.8 billion. The next year, it was the biggest fuel seller in Poland. Orlen also sponsors the Orlen Arena in Płock, which opened in 2010.
In 2013, Orlen expanded into Canada. It bought an oil and gas company called TriOil Resources Ltd to start producing oil there. In 2014, it bought another company, Birchill Exploration Ltd, to double its oil production in Canada.
Orlen also owns Poland's largest plastics company, Basell Orlen Polyolefins Sp. z o.o., together with a Dutch-American company.
Becoming a Multi-Energy Company (2015–Present)
Since 2018, Orlen has been working to become a company that deals with many types of energy and other businesses. In 2019, Orlen opened its first petrol station in Slovakia under the Benzina brand. By the end of 2020, there were 20 Orlen stations in Slovakia.
In 2020, Orlen bought 80% of Energa, an energy company. In August 2022, Orlen completed a merger with Grupa Lotos, another big oil company.
In November 2020, Orlen bought a large part of Ruch SA, a chain of newsagents. In December 2020, Orlen also bought a media and press company called "Polska Press sp. z o.o."
Orlen is also investing in green energy. In December 2020, it bought a biogas plant to turn it into a biomethane plant. In 2021, Orlen bought four wind farms to produce electricity from wind.
In October 2022, Orlen took over PGNiG, a large natural gas company. This was another big step in Orlen's growth.
Orlen has big plans for the future of energy. In 2020, the company announced it wants to become "emission-neutral" by 2050. This means they want to produce no net carbon dioxide emissions. To reach this goal, Orlen plans to reduce emissions from its oil and chemical plants by 20% by 2030. They also aim to reduce emissions from power generation by 33%.
In June 2021, Orlen opened its first "Orlen w ruchu" convenience store in Warsaw. In September 2021, the company started a parcel locker service called "Orlen Paczka."
In December 2022, Orlen entered the Hungarian market. It took over 143 petrol stations from Hungary's MOL company. This was part of a deal related to Orlen's merger with Grupa Lotos.
In March 2023, Orlen started sponsoring the Stadion im. Kazimierza Górskiego in Płock. Also in March 2023, Orlen signed a deal with a Ukrainian oil company to export petrochemical products to Ukraine.
On July 3, 2023, the company officially changed its name from PKN Orlen to Orlen S.A. This change shows its focus on becoming a more diverse energy company, not just about fossil fuels. In September 2023, Orlen Group was approved to take over the retail division of an Austrian oil company, adding 266 petrol stations in Austria.
In August 2023, Orlen's board approved investing in an off-shore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. This project, with Northland Power, aims to help Orlen produce 9 GW of renewable energy by 2030. The Baltic Power farm will have 76 wind turbines and provide energy to over 1.5 million homes by 2026.
In December 2023, the Polish government approved building 24 new small modular reactor (SMR) units. Orlen plans to build Poland's first small reactors by 2030.
Orlen paid a dividend for 2023, which means it shared some of its profits with its shareholders.
Orlen's Sponsorships
Orlen supports many sports and athletes. It has sponsored the Polish Athletic Association and the Polish Volleyball Association. Orlen also supports the Polish Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
In motorsport, Orlen has sponsored Polish drivers like Bartosz Zmarzlik and Jakub Przygoński.
From 2019 to 2022, Orlen was a sponsor for Formula One teams. It sponsored Williams Racing in 2019 and then became a co-title sponsor for Alfa Romeo Racing from 2020 to 2022. In January 2023, Orlen became a main partner for Scuderia AlphaTauri. Orlen's logo will continue to be on the team's cars as they are renamed to RB in 2024. In November 2023, Orlen became an official sponsor of the ski jumping hill in Oberstdorf, Germany, which is now called ORLEN Arena Oberstdorf.
A Financial Challenge for Orlen
In early 2025, Orlen faced a financial challenge. The company announced a loss of about $378 million. This happened because of payments made for oil from Venezuela that was never delivered.
Orlen has been working to get its money back. It has already recovered $100 million through a settlement. Investigations are still ongoing to find the rest of the money and understand what happened.
Orlen Group Brands and Companies
.jpg)
Brands of Orlen
- Orlen (Petrol station brand in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia)
- Star (Petrol station brand in Germany)
- Unipetrol (A leading Czech petrol company)
- Orlen Lietuva (Petrol station brand in Lithuania)
- Benzina (Petrol station brand in the Czech Republic and Slovakia)
- Turmöl (Petrol station brand in Austria)
How Orlen Group is Organized
Orlen Group is made up of many different companies that work together. Here are some of them:
| Name | What they do |
|---|---|
| Companies managed by the CEO | |
| Anwil S.A. | Makes PVC, fertilizers, and other chemicals |
| Orlen Ochrona | Provides security services |
| Orlen Upstream | Looks for crude oil |
| Sigma Bis S.A. | Provides marketing services |
| Unipetrol a.s. | A top Czech company for refining oil and making chemicals |
| Companies managed by the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) | |
| Orlen Capital AB | Handles special financial bonds |
| Orlen Centrum Usług Korporacyjnych | Provides bookkeeping and accounting services |
| Orlen Holding Malta Limited | Holds shares in other companies |
| Orlen Insurance Ltd | Insures Orlen Group's properties |
| Orlen Usługi finansowe | Provides financial services |
| Companies focused on Development | |
| AB Orlen Baltics Retail | Buys and sells liquid fuels |
| Orlen Deutschland GmbH | Sells fuel in Germany |
| Companies focused on Production | |
| AB Orlen Lietuva | Processes crude oil, handles logistics, and sells petroleum products |
| Baltic Power | Produces, distributes, and trades electricity |
| Basell Orlen Polyolefins | Makes and sells polyethylene and polypropylene plastics |
| Orlen Południe S.A. | Processes crude oil and makes and sells fuels |
| Orlen Serwis S.A. | Provides maintenance services |
| Companies focused on Retail Sales | |
| Orlen Budonaft | Builds and services petrol stations |
| Orlen Centrum Serwisowe | Services retail stores |
| Orlen Laboratorium S.A. | Provides laboratory services |
| Orlen Projekt S.A. | Provides civil engineering and design services |
| Companies focused on Wholesale and International Trade | |
| Orlen trading Switzerland GmbH | Handles trading activities |
| IKS Solino S.A. | Stores crude oil and fuels underground; produces and sells salt |
| Kopalnia Soli Lubień | Stores crude oil and fuels underground; produces and sells salt |
| Orlen Asfalt | Makes and sells asphalt products |
| Orlen Aviation Sp. z o.o. | Trades liquid fuels |
| Orlen KolTrans S.A. | Handles rail transport and maintains train cars |
| Orlen Oil | Makes and sells lubricating oils and lubricants |
| Orlen Paliwa Sp. z o.o. | Sells liquid fuels (petrol, diesel) and heating oil |
| SHIP - Service SA | Supplies marine fuels and handles sea and land cargo |
| Corporate Services | |
| Orlen Administracja | Provides office, administrative, and catering services |
| Orlen Eko | Handles waste disposal and environmental safety |
| PPPT S.A. | Does research and development for new technologies |
Leaders of Orlen
Here is a list of the people who have been the main leaders (CEOs) of Orlen:
- Andrzej Modrzejewski – 1999 – 2002
- Zbigniew Wróbel – 2002 – 2004
- Jacek Walczykowski – 2004
- Igor Chalupec – 2004 – 2007
- Piotr Kownacki – 2007 – 2008
- Wojciech Heydel – 2008
- Dariusz Krawiec – 2008 – 2015
- Wojciech Jasiński – 2015 – 2018
- Daniel Obajtek – 2018 – 2024
- Witold Literacki (acting) – 2024
- Ireneusz Fąfara – 2024 – present
See also
In Spanish: Orlen para niños
- List of petroleum companies
- List of largest Polish companies
- List of companies of Poland
