PGNiG Target $300 plus Million on Exploration Spending

Polish gas company Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) will spend 4.8 billion zlotys (approximately $1.4 billion) on gas investments in 2012, the company has announced.

The investments will include a 200 million zlotys (approximately $57 million) spend on shale gas exploration and excavation.

"We will spend 200 million zlotys for shale gas exploration next year," deputy chief executive of PGNiG, Radoslaw Dudzinsk told reporters in Warsaw.

He also said that Spanish Iberdrola had bid the lowest price tender for a planned gas-powered block in Stalowa Wola, Poland. Iberdrola bid for the project for a 1.6 billion zlotys (approx. $455 million) cost. The price comes under the 1.9 billion zlotys cost allowed for the project.

"The decision which bid to choose depends 80 per cent on the price," Mr. Dudzink said.

PGNigGis one of the investors in the Stalowa Wola gas facility and is constructing the plant in conjunction with Polish power company Tauron Polska Energia. 

Construction of the project is expected to be underway by 2014.