Gas discovered in mass quantities in Poland is to change the energy and maybe political map of Europe

 

Finally, will the old dreams come true in Poland? Legendary President Lech Wałęsa has once said that he was not interested in the presence of the US troops on Polish land. Instead, he would wish to see as many “generals” as possible, like: General Electric or General Motors. Even though Wałęsa left his office 16 years ago, a lot indicates that his dreams from the past may soon come true. At present, US investors are not so numerously represented in Poland as the companies from Germany but this may change shortly. During the past months such corporations as ExxonMobil or Chevron started to demonstrate interest in Poland. Their entry to Polish market would mean the beginning of a new era.

 

The key word which opens any door is shale gas, a resource which in the opinion of Polish Member of the European Parliament, Konrad Szymański, could contribute to the “improvement of the competition on energy market" and “significantly weaken the position of Russia, Iran or Qatar which so far have been dealing the cards". Using the example of the United States, it is the most clear to see how the exploitation of shale gas deposits may revolutionise the market. During only a few years that country became one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world. Shale gas is no different from conventional natural gas, however, it occurs in deeply located rock layers because of which it is not so easily accessible and its extraction is labour intense and requires complex technologies.

 

Deposits in Europe are presumably huge and it is estimated that the biggest reserves are located in Poland. It is not without a reason that the visit of President Barack Obama at the end of May was marked by the sign of Polish-American cooperation in the area of the exploitation of that resource. It is estimated that the richest deposits of shale gas occur within the broad strip from Pomorze and the Bay of Gdańsk through Warsaw up to the border with Ukraine. This area has been divided already between the investors. The concessions for exploratory drillings were received by five US corporations and 18 companies from other countries, mainly from United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. The first test wells, seven of them have already been made, are very promising. However, it is not all.

 

Until the end of May, another 124 permits were issued. Also, three Polish state-owned companies are among the applicants, i.e.: PGNiG (Polish Oil and Gas Company), a leader of natural gas market in Poland, Lotos, the owner of the refinery in Gdańsk, also an oil company Orlen, which is at the same time the largest company in Poland with turnover reaching EUR 17 billion. The owners of Polish companies are clearly not disturbed by the fact that they are unable to finance the exploitation of the new energy carrier themselves. Jacek Krawiec, the President of Orlen, openly admits that the capital coverage is insufficient, and his company does not have appropriate technologies. However, both problems can be easily resolved, by establishing co-operation with foreign companies. Krawiec reminds about the official experts’ study of 1958 in which it was stated that there were no chances for the exploitation of hydrocarbons in Norway to be successful: despite this, ten years later extraction work started and today this country is the second largest producer of natural gas in Europe after Russia.

 

Extraction of gas from sedimentary shale on industrial scale is an opportunity not only for our country but for the entire continent. Krawiec emphasises at the same time that exploration of shale gas is not a whim or fad but one of the stages in the process which is taking place within the entire mining sector. “Companies such as ours gradually transform into gas and oil companies and exactly in such order: gas first, then oil, never the other way round. (…)

 

 

Source: Forum, page: 23, 2011-07-18, by Gerhard Gnauck

On the same topic also in:
- Energia Gigawat, page 50, Polish Oil and Gas Company intends to make two drillings this year looking for shale gas
- Energia Gigawat, page 6, Before we have shale gas we may become a lonely island in the middle of Europe
- Rzeczpospolita B, page 1, Polish government starts to defend the right to shale explorations