Dow Jones: Poland To Tax Shale Gas More Lightly Than Super-Profitable Copper

Poland's Environment Ministry will present its proposed bill on taxing shale gas production in mid-April, Deputy Minister Piotr Wozniak told Dow Jones Newswires Monday, adding the government's planned levy on hydrocarbons will be lighter than on copper and silver.

Oil majors such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhilips, as well as state-controlled Polish companies, are just beginning to explore for shale gas in Poland, but the country hopes the natural resource will free it from dependence on gas imports from Russia and make it a gas exporter.

Government officials have floated 2014 or 2015 as the possible start of commercial production, but want to put a tax system in place to remove uncertainty for companies.  MORE