Reuters: Poland's PGNiG plans to float exploration units

Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG wants to merge its five exploration and servicing units and float them on the stock market partly to raise money to help the company's efforts in shale gas exploration, it said on Friday.

"The growing scale of exploration for unconventional gas may increase the amount of drilling and maintenance services and thus intensify competition on this market in Poland," PGNiG said in a statement.

"In this way it would be possible to privatise the companies by way of IPOs (initial public offering) and raise additional financing."  

Foreign companies, that include global majors like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, have lately become active in Poland, which is keen to develop a shale gas market that would allow it to curb reliance on costly supplies from Russia.  MORE