Less shale gas in Poland than expected

Polish analysts and experts are much less optimistic about the potential of Polish shale gas after having analyzed a number of “fresh” extraction sites, the Polish media reported June 2014.

“From the geological point of view, it is now clear that we should stop thinking about the Polish shale gas super-optimistically,” Pawel Poprawa, an adviser from Instytut Studiow Energetycznych, said at a press conference organized on June 9. “Without a doubt, we are talking about a project that has a much lesser potential than we originally assumed.”

Although experts agree that there is less shale gas reserves in Poland than previously thought, the exact amount remains a mystery. In order to properly compile such estimates, data from 100-200 different fracking extraction sites would need to be analyzed.

So far fracking was used at 10 extraction sites, out of a total of 60 exploration sites where drilling took place.

This news comes shortly after the Polish government announced in May 2014 that it has finally passed on to the Parliament a bill to amend the “Geology and Mining Law’, which covers shale gas. As CEE Insight reported, the government’s bill only included two of 144 proposals that the oil and gas industry in Poland submitted to be included in the bill. It took the government three years to create this bill after it announced in 2011 that shale gas and the relevant laws should be a priority.

The drawn-out process of updating the law to fit the current reality in the segment of shale gas as well as political and legal uncertainty, and lack of well-grounded and accurate estimates led many investors to leave Poland.

“Many companies left the Polish shale gas sector, many concessions were abandoned,” Poprawa said as quoted by Puls Biznesu. “The smaller players who stayed, such as Lane Energy and Winsent Oil & Gas are having difficulty in finding the financing. “This is why the main role in the development of shale gas in Poland will be played by Polish gas incumbents such as PKN Orlen and PGNiG.