During the construction of the facility, an environmental monitoring program was introduced that includes tests of sea and ground waters.

The complex of the Būtingė Terminal consists of a crude oil pipeline that connects the facility with the Mažeikiai Refinery inland, onshore terminal equipment and tanks at Būtingė, an offshore pipeline, and a single point mooring (SPM) buoy[8] which lies 7 km offshore.

Later, Williams ran into financial trouble and their stake in Mažeikių Nafta was bought by the Russian company Yukos.

Additionally, it was deemed most desirable by Lithuania, which has been aiming to avoid the refinery and infrastructure being bought out by Russian interests due to the national security concerns.

[11] To force the sale to Yukos for lower price, Russia has shut down the only land pipeline, which New York Times described as "tools for intimidation and blackmail".

[14] The buyout was finalized on 15 December 2006, with US$1.492 billion paid by PKN Orlen to Yukos International, and US$851.8 million to the Lithuanian Government.

[17] During the fire, a 50-meter height vacuum tower collapsed, oil products leaked out, and a series of explosions were heard; The blaze covered about 800 square meters at one point.

23 firefighting vehicles were brought to the scene of the accident and eyewitness accounts said that fires reached 150m in height and could be seen from several kilometers away.

[17] The vice-leader of the Russian Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, stated that "instability will continue to plague the refinery until the Lithuanians finally realize which partners one should choose" only a few hours before the start of the blaze.