The US government’s Energy Information Administration [EIA] estimates that Poland has the biggest reserves of shale gas in Europe. They will secure our country’s needs for a period of 300 years.

 

The EIA report published yesterday estimates the Polish reserves at 5.3 trillion cubic metres of gas.

 

- Their estimates are very cautious, and therefore credible – says Piotr Woźniak, head of European ACER [The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators]. This optimism is damped a bit by the chief geologist of the country Henryk Jacek Jezierski.
 – This is still only a preliminary report. The Polish and US geological services are preparing a more accurate forecast regarding the shale gas reserves – says Jezierski. He explains that this consists in calculating precisely how big the rock deposits are, and of what kind, and how much gas they may contain. The results of those studies will be known in September.
– Then we’ll be able to tell more about the deposits – says Jezierski.
Earlier we will get to know the results of an analysis of the drillings carried out by the firms which were granted concessions to search for shale gas.
 – There is a PGNiG well in the north of Poland, more than 3,000 metres deep. We have a Lane Energy well, and although the initial results are optimistic, we must wait for the results of laboratory tests – says Mikołaj Budzanowski, Deputy Treasury Minister. He adds that more such drillings must be made to confirm that a given area hosts a deposit suitable for extraction. This we will know roughly in the middle of this year. It is then that the US firm Lane Energy, which made drillings at Lubień in the Pomerania Voivodeship [province], will announce its results. A little later the same will be done by the Polish firm PGNiG which is analysing a drill core from the Lubocino-1 well (also in Pomerania). However, if the EIA estimates turn out to be accurate, we are going to have a revolution here. A completely new branch of industry will come into being and within a few years’ time we will be able to turn into a big exporter of gas. Poland’s industry and energy sector will have to be transformed.
- Poland will have to rapidly improve its capacity to distribute gas to customers through a network of pipelines – admits Jezierski. This, however, is not going to happen earlier than in 5-7 years, because this is the span of time that will pass from an exact examination of the deposits and their preparation for exploration to the moment when it will be possible to start extraction. – This is the optimistic variant. Pessimists say that at the beginning of the extraction of cheap shale gas on a large scale will create a confusion in Poland. The gas contract signed with Russia last year means that until 2022 we will have to continue importing from that country over 10 billion cubic metres of the most expensive gas in Europe. PGNiG must pay for that gas even if it does not collect it. In this situation the activation of new deposits will result in that consumers will be able to use the cheaper shale fuel and the Polish gas potentate for several years will be at a loss what to do with the Russian gas. If we add to this [the future] imports of liquefied gas from Qatar (up to 5 billion cu. m.), cheaper than the Russian gas, then an overabundance of gas will become a reality. A way out would be to export it, but we do not have the necessary infrastructure to do it. And apart from this, competition will be growing since France, Norway and Ukraine also have huge reserves of shale gas. These countries will also want to sell it. One thing is certain – gas will be cheaper.

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, p. 8, 2011-04-08, author: Mariusz Staniszewski

 

The following papers wrote on this subject matter:

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, p. 1, Poland will finally make money. On gas.
Puls Biznesu, p. 5, Poland has enough gas for 300 years
Rzeczpospolita B, p.1 Poland a shale gas baron?