Lights Out on Polish Shale?

The toll of failure in the Polish shale gas experience continues to mount with the departure of the last major.

ConocoPhillips announced on is Friday that is was withdrawing from shale gas exploration in Poland.

"Unfortunately, commercial volumes of natural gas were not encountered," commented country manager Tim Wallace in a statement.

The company said had drilled seven wells in its three Western Baltic concessions encompassing approximately 500,000 acres, investing approximately $220 million through its subsidiary Lane Energy Poland since 2009.

In January of this year, Chevron Corp, the leader in multinational efforts to develop shale gas resources in Europe, announced that it would not continue operations in Poland. 

Earlier Exxon Mobil, Marathon, ENI SpA, Talisman Energy and Total SA, packed their bags and left Poland amid challenging geology, bureaucratic entanglements, delays in establishing fiscal and regulatory reforms, all topped off by significant downgrades in the estimates of shale gas reserves.

The departure by ConocoPhillips leaves domestic state-backed players players such as a PGNIG and PKN Orlen to keep the Poland's diminishing shale dream alive.