What would you say if, while refuelling, not only would your coffee be fresh, but you could also grab a steaming slice of pizza from a vending machine – while your laundry is already spinning in the gas station’s washing machine? At first glance, it sounds like you’ve wandered into a sci-fi rest stop, where everyday logistics and guilty-pleasure snacking have finally made peace with each other. Yet this is not a vision of the future, but the present tense: in the Czech Republic, ORLEN is already actively testing its pizza-and-laundry gas station concept. And best of all, this is only the opening chord of that strangely brilliant “gas station as a mini life hub” direction with which ORLEN is visibly overturning our long-held assumptions about refuelling.
Gas station 2.0: more than fuel and windshield washer fluid
The Polish-rooted ORLEN company is boldly breaking with the traditional image of gas stations. Today, we no longer go there merely to refuel: at some of its stations, travellers are welcomed by a 24/7 pizzeria and a self-service laundromat. In Prague, at one of ORLEN’s busiest stations, a round-the-clock pizza vending machine and a mini laundromat with two washing machines and dryers are operating on a pilot basis – and according to the experiences of the first weeks, these unusual services are surprisingly popular.
ORLEN has already been working for some time to ensure that stopping at a station is not a chore, but an experience in the Stop.Cafe lounge areas found at its stations, barista-quality coffee and premium refreshments are available, from mouth-watering hot dogs to vegetarian dishes. By now, the company has rolled out this mini oasis at more than 80 filling stations in Hungary, while internationally, Stop.Cafe operates at 2,500 locations. In addition, many stations have opened small-format DESPAR grocery stores, where a wide range of items can be purchased, from basic foodstuffs to personal care products. In Hungary, such stores are now operating at 70 ORLEN stations, which serve as a real lifeline during holiday periods – you can even drop in on Christmas Eve for a missing ingredient, since the stations’ flexible opening hours allow lightning-fast shopping 24 hours a day.
It is no exaggeration to say that ORLEN has reimagined the gas station. Thanks to refined interior design, café corners, and an ever-expanding selection of fresh products, a stop increasingly evokes the experience of an urban bistro – just at a filling station. Fueling thus becomes a supporting act within a complete service portfolio where the comfort of drivers and passengers comes first.
Taking off in the region: ORLEN’s expansion
The company entered the Hungarian market only at the end of 2022, yet it set a pace as if it had been warming up on the starting line for decades: in a short time, it has grown into one of the country’s key filling-station networks. It currently operates 78 stations nationwide and, according to plans, will expand the network to 142 by mid-2024 – thereby firmly sliding into the domestic top four. This is not just a spectacular expansion, but also a profound market message: ORLEN did not come to test the waters, but to claim a position.
And this is only one chapter of the regional story. Today, the company operates around 3,500 ORLEN filling stations in seven countries, making it an increasingly Central European “multi-stop” network. In Slovakia, for example, the number of stations may soon exceed 90, allowing ORLEN to climb into the ranks of the three largest fuel retailers. The longer-term goal is even more ambitious: by 2030, ORLEN wants to increase the share of foreign filling stations from 37% to 45%. In other words, cross-border growth is not a side plot for them, but the main story itself.
Startups and high tech: the engine of innovation
Behind the spectacular growth and service expansion lies a deliberate innovation strategy. ORLEN has recognised that the traditional oil industry model is undergoing a transformation and therefore actively integrates startups and new technologies into its operations. The flagship of this effort is the ORLEN Skylight Accelerator, an open innovation program that has already implemented nearly 40 pilot projects on ORLEN’s infrastructure. Hundreds of startups from around the world apply to the various challenges – so far, about 900 – and the best ideas are tested in real operational environments. In contrast, the startups retain ownership of their own technologies.
Supporting startups is also the mission of ORLEN VC, the corporate venture capital fund. Altogether, the company plans to invest around EUR 100 million in startups over the coming years. ORLEN VC focuses on sustainable energy, the circular economy, and digital technologies. Under its “The energy of tomorrow starts today” program, ORLEN will allocate investments worth PLN 350-380 billion by 2035 to technological development and the energy transition.
On the road toward energy independence and a green future
ORLEN’s innovations do not stop at enhancing the customer experience. Behind the scenes, an equally important objective is ensuring the security of energy supply in the region and climate-friendly operation. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, independence from Russian energy resources has become a key issue across Europe, and the Polish company has been at the forefront here as well. In 2022, it halted Russian LPG imports and replaced them with supplies from its own refineries in Poland and from Western European sources. In this spirit, the capacity of the Szczecin LPG terminal was also doubled, to approximately 400,000 tons per year.
The situation is similar on the crude oil front: the company has gradually shifted away from pipeline-delivered Russian crude to seaborne imports. In 2024, for example, it imported 16 million tons of crude oil by tanker ships, placing ORLEN among the world’s 20 largest oil shipping companies.
To strengthen supply security, ORLEN is also building its own LNG tanker fleet: by 2025, eight giant vessels will enter service. This fleet will transport the liquefied natural gas volumes contracted from the United States for 20 years (1 million tons annually, with shipments starting from 2027).
Steps are also being taken in hydrogen: three public hydrogen filling stations will soon be built in Poland.
The essence of these efforts is that ORLEN aims to meet the expectations of modern consumers while also addressing future challenges. It makes everyday refuelling more enjoyable with bold and unconventional ideas, while laying the foundations for the region’s energy-independent, sustainable future through investments worth billions.