PGNiG Increases Gas Sales by 0.4 BCM for First Half of Year

Polish national energy company PGNiG has said today that it has increased sales of gas for the first half of 2012 by 400 million cubic metres compared to the same period in 2011. The increase sees sales rise from 7.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) in the first half of 2011 to 8bcm for the first two quarters of 2012.

However, production rates for the period remained constant with the same volume of gas produced in the first half of 2012 as in the first half of 2012 at 2.9bcm.

Imports of gas remained high for the company with 5.8 bcm of gas imported from outside the country. Countries east of Poland -- particularly Russia, though the PGNiG statement did not specify any particular country -- accounted for 4.6 billion cubic metres of the 5.8 bcm imported.

Currently, Russia's Gazprom is the largest supplier of gas to Poland, supplying around 70 per cent, or 10 bcm, of the country's annual gas needs. With a pricing dispute between PGNiG and Gazprom ongoing, the country has increasingly begun to look to other sources for gas supply to ensure its energy independence.

Chiefly, Poland has turned its attention to shale gas with the Polish government announcing this month that 1 billion zloty (approx. €235 million) would be invested into shale gas technologies. This follows estimates from the Polish government that Poland could be producing from at least one shale well by 2015.