Poland Seeks to Partner with Turkey on Shale

Polish Undersecretary of State, Beata Stelmach has said that Poland may seek to partner with Turkey on shale gas as it deepens it search for the unconventional asset.

"If Poland begins production this will create the potential for a partnership and we are ready to begin a dialogue [with Turkey]," Hurriyet Daily News reports her as saying at a press conference in Turkey.

Turkey and Poland, she said, already had strong ties and had similar opprotunities and difficulties in the gas market. Poland would be ready to strengthen those ties in the shale gas arena, the Undersecretary said.

"If we become producers we won’t be dependent anymore. Our situation is similar to the Turkish energy market. Now we have a chance to be less dependent, and this can be beneficial for both our countries."

Poland has increasingly turned to the development of shale gas in a bid to increase its independence and supply security in the face of high gas prices from Russian supplier Gazprom. Earlier this month, PGNiG, Poland's largest gas producer and supplier, said that it was seeking to double its production output before its current long-term contract with Gazprom comes to end in 2019. As part of this drive, the company has also this week partnered with fellow Polish company LOTOS, to speed up exploration on seven of its licences in Poland.

Earlier this month, Polish shale-focused PKN Orlen also said that it was planning to intensify shale gas exploration in Poland. 

"We have the ambition to become the holder of the greatest number of exploration licenses for shale gas deposits in Poland," president of PKN Orlen Jacek Krawiec said.