Five Polish Firms to Accelerate Shale Development

Five Polish firms have today signed an agreement which will see them accelerate the development and exploration of shale gas in Poland.

The five firms, PGNiG, ENEA, KGHM, PGE, and TAURON Polska Energia, signed the agreement today to invest 1.72 billion zlotys (€408 million) in the development of several prospects which have been identified as having shale reserves. These are located in the Wejherowo concession in Northern Poland, where drilling at the Lubocino-1 well showed positive results. Krogulec said, that the company hopes to start a production in Lubocino in 2014. The investment is expected to be made by 2015.

Work will initially be carried out on three areas within the Wejherowo concession, at Kochanowo, Częstkowo and Tępcz. However, PGNiG said today that following cooperation on this concession, a new agreement could be devised to cover collaboration outside of the Wejherowo concession.

Polish Minister of the Treasury, Budzanowski Nicholas, said today that shale was an important asset for Poland, with this agreement moving the country's interest in shale gas ahead.

"It is a way to achieve long-range goal of finding new ideas and promote innovation," he said. "(...)The gas from shale can benefit the entire economy... Energy companies now engaging in exploration, guarantee the supply of cheaper, domestic raw material gas power plants being built."

Poland, which has been fighting high prices from Russian supplier Gazprom, has turned to shale in recent years to cut energy costs. This agreement, PGNiG President Grazyna Piotrowska-Oliwa, brought Poland closer to meeting that end.

"Today's agreement brings us closer to achieving the strategic objective is to increase the independence and competitiveness of the Polish economy," she said. "By extracting gas from shale it is possible to ensure stable energy supply to the market at acceptable prices."

PGNiG is the licence holder for the Wejherowo concession, one of its 15 shale gas concessions in Poland.