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    Poland Signs up for More US LNG: Report

Summary

PGNiG is said to be eyeing a deal that would boost US LNG imports by 40%.

by: Tim Gosling

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Americas, Europe, Import/Export, Baltic Focus, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), EU, Poland, United States

Poland Signs up for More US LNG: Report

Polish gas utility PGNiG is planning to boost its LNG purchases from the US further, local media reported February 26.

State-controlled PGNiG is set to agree to buy a further 3bn m3/year, according to the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily. That would boost Poland’s planned purchases of US LNG following 2022 by 40%. Late last year Poland agreed several long-term deals that will see it import around 6.7bn m3/yr from the US.

PGNiG is at the forefront of the Polish government’s push to increase independence from Russian supplies, and establish itself as a hub for the region. Gazprom currently supplies around 10mn m3/y of Poland’s annual consumption of 16mn m3/yr. The pair’s long-term contract expires in 2022. Poland says it does not plan to extend the agreement.

Warsaw is also keen to strengthen ties with the Trump administration, and purchases of US LNG have helped. Poland’s 5mn metric tons/yr LNG terminal, opened in 2015, is being expanded to 7.5mn mt/yr. The 10bn m3/yr Baltic Pipe will run through Denmark to tap Norwegian gas fields, including those operated by PGNiG.

PGNiG officials recently suggested that the company could purchase a floating liquefied gas terminal, and park it in the Gulf of Gdansk. That could help expand Poland’s LNG terminal capacity to 13bn m3/yr by 2024.

PGNiG signed four contracts with US partners last year, including a 20-year deal with Cheniere that will see it import 1.95bn m3/yr from 2023. PGNiG claims that the pricing on its Cheniere contract is “much lower“ than the price it pays for Russian pipeline gas.

A 20-year deal with Sempra Energy will see PGNiG buy 2.7bn m3/yr from 2022. Venture Global LNG, which last week took a final investment decision on its Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility will provide another 2.7bn m3/yr.

PGNiG also has a supply contract in place with Qatar, while it has also been buying spot cargoes.