A few days of a delay did not prevent the gas miners and gas industry workers from the Lublin region from celebrating their Miner’s Day (St. Barbara’s day) (on 9 December). These ceremonies were combined with the anniversary of gas industry in the Lublin region which has been present here since 1881.
The ceremonies of the 130th anniversary started with the holy mass at the metropolitan cathedral where the gas mining colour parties presented themselves dignified. Archbishop of Lublin, father Stanisław Budzik, in his homily mentioned towns and villages which were supplied with blue fuel, the support of social, charity and cultural activities by gas companies. He also called their patron, Saint Barbara, “to cut with her sword the Gordian knot of social and economic problems which threaten Poland and the world so much". At the end, he blessed the banner for the miners. Later, already in the rain, they appeared on the main streets of Lublin. Colourful parade led by the miners’ band moved to the Lublin Concert Hall where the anniversary gala took place with the participation of the municipal and regional authorities, during which a few tens of distinguished miners were decorated. To celebrate that day many of them came to Lublin from all over Poland. In particular, many of them came from Tarnów, one of the most important gas centres in Poland with 4 gas companies operating there. Two of them are responsible for the gas flame in Lublin. The first one is the Karpacka Spółka Gazownictwa in Tarnów (Zakład Gazowniczy in Lublin is its branch). “This is the fuel of the 21st century and a great chemical raw material. Also, more and more cars will drive on compressed natural gas (CNG). How important it would be for the environmentally friendly Lublin, only if we manage to convince the local authorities about it,” said Mr. Bogdan Pastuszko, President of Karpacka Spółka Gazownictwa in Tarnów. “By 2015 we will supply gas to Bychawa and Włodawa area; we have already signed contracts with the authorities of these towns,” he added. The other company is PGNiG SA (Polish Oil and Gas Company), the Karpacki Gas Trade Branch in Tarnów (Gazownia Lubelska constitutes its part). What is the split of competencies between such companies? “Zakład Gazowniczy is the distributor: the owner of the entire infrastructure, pipes and gas meters, which does the meter reading. In turn, Gazownia Lubelska is a body of PGNiG and is responsible for trade in gas by signing contracts for the gas supply,” explains Mr. Bogusław Bojarski, Director of Gazownia Lubelska. They celebrate the anniversary together with Mr. Grzegorz Staniszewski, Director of Zakład Gazowniczy, also having extensive plans. “The Lublin region may be a gas extraction region. Right next to Lublin (Ciederzyn and Świdnik) there are two wells which are able to supply approx. 50% of gas consumed annually by the residents of the city.
And in perspective there is still the shale gas whose deposits we have right under us. Unfortunately, in addition to the celebration, there are other facts related with the gas. We may be facing the price increase. We will find out about this in two weeks. Polish Oil and Gas Company intends to increase prices on average by 10%. They already have submitted a tariff application on this subject to the Energy Regulatory Office. A voice of the female member of the European Parliament about gas: “Shale gas may be a great opportunity for the development of the Lublin region but the extraction work and its consequences apply directly to the residents of the towns where the gas will be extracted. That is why in November this year we organized information meetings for residents of few districts in the Lublin region where explorations are or will be carried out,” stated the member of the European Parliament, Professor Lena Kolarska-Bobińska at the conference (on the same day).
Her office contracted an opinion poll to be carried out among the residents of the Lublin area about the shale gas. TNS OBOP carried out the opinion poll in November on the representative sample of 1000 individuals. To compare the opinion of the Lublin region residents with the opinion of the general public of Poland the research conducted by CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre) (September) was used. Definite majority of the region’s residents (over 60% of the respondents) believe that the extraction of the shale gas would be beneficial for Poland, their region and community in which they live. More residents of the Lublin area (over 70%) agree for the extraction of gas near their place of residence. “Usually, phenomena at the level of the entire country have strong support when they do not apply to us directly. What is striking in the research concerning our residents, is the perception of the shale gas as an opportunity not only for Poland but for the region and direct place of residence as well,” claims the European Parliament member.
Source: Nowy Tydzień w Lublinie, page no. : 9, 2011-12-12, by: Marek Rybołowicz