Mazeikiu Nafta is an oil refinery and oil-processing plant in Lithuania. It is the only refinery in the Baltic States.
Pipeline System
Mazeikiu Nafta operates a system of pipelines with a total length of around 500 kilometers. This system 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 founded for the operation of Lithuanian pipelines, which became part of Mazeikiu Nafta in 1998.
Marine Terminal
The Butinge Terminal is state-of-the-art facility of Mazeikiu Nafta situated in an all-year-round ice-free area of the Baltic Sea. The project began 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 on board a shipment of YUKOS crude oil. The Terminal can export up to 14 million tons of crude oil a year. But is also capable as an import terminal.
During the construction of the facility, an environmental monitoring program was introduced that includes tests of sea and ground waters. With the start of the terminal operations, an expanded environmental monitoring program was launched. This included 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.
Sale of the Company
It has been reported that "Mazeikiu Nafta" is up for sale for potential buyers. The Lithuanian government is hoping that governments from oil-rich nations will show interest in "Mazeikiu Nafta"; recently potential buyers from Kazakhstan announced their plans to the Lithuanian Government to buy the company.
Maeikiu Nafta is the only oil-processing plant in the Baltic States. It is based in Lithuania.