Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review

In 2006, when the Polish company PKN Orlen acquired the controlling stake in the oil refinery Mazeikiu Nafta, Lithuanian and Polish politicians started elaborating on a new phase in the bilateral strategic partnership. Enthusiasm about the future of energy cooperation naturally raises the question: how strongly founded it is? More than ten years ago, a strategic partnership with Poland was nothing more than declaration, why did it happen to become the main tool of energy security? This article analyzes the cooperation between Lithuania and Poland in different energy sectors; evaluates its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and predicts its outcomes to Lithuania's energy security. The model of interaction between geo-energetic actors, which describes their interests and relations, was applied to this research. It is concluded that the strategic energy partnership is hardly feasible due to different geo-energetic functions of Poland and those of Lithuania. Therefore it is suggested to avoid overvaluation of bilateral cooperation and reconsider reliance of Lithuania's energy security upon energy relations with Poland.