Polish gas policy under fire

21 May 2013, New Europe

On 21 May, Bloomberg reported that the Polish gas policy followed by the government has led many North American companies to leave the country. However, the tax measures haven’t become law yet.

According to the US financial news agency, the decision of the Polish government to increase the taxes on the gas profits caused the exodus of many oil companies from the EU country. John Buggenhagen, who resigned yesterday as exploration director in Poland for San Leon Energy told Bloomberg. “Who’s going to come and invest billions of dollars to monetize this gas if the government is talking about taking huge profit margins away from the companies?” Apart from the Polish gas tax policy, Bloomberg reported that according to data from the Polish Environment Ministry, of the 39 wells planned for 2013, just two were drilled by May.

Still, according to Shale gas Europe, the Polish gas reserves are extensive in the EU Member State. In March 2012, the Polish Geological Institute issued new estimates for Poland´s shale gas reserves. According to the Institute, in the conservative scenario Polish gas reserves are estimated at 346-768 billion cubic metres – enough to supply the country for 35-65 years. On the other hand, the higher estimates indicate that Poland’s total reserves could reach 1.9 trillion cubic metres.

In contrast with Bloomberg’s criticism, on April 12, the Bankwatch network, reported that the Polish government is rapidly adopting liberal shale gas legislation without taking into account any environmental standards.

Still another point we should note is that Poland has had long-term problems regarding its energy security, as the country is mainly relied on Russia for gas supply. Therefore, the Polish government wants to build a strong energy sector by relying on the Polish gas reserves.

According to the government, Poland faces a great opportunity to build a strong energy sector following the USA where the share of shale gas in the overall gas supply rocketed from 1 per cent in 2000 up to 20 per cent now. According to the government, “environmentally safety issues are under discussion.”