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    Poland Uses More Gas, Especially LNG

Summary

Poland is diversifying imports, but the share coming from Russia has not risen.

by: William Powell

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Europe, Corporate, Exploration & Production, Import/Export, News By Country, Poland

Poland Uses More Gas, Especially LNG

Polish gas demand is rising and so is the proportion delivered by tanker, now almost a fifth of the total imports, the country's dominant supplier PGNiG said October 3, citing confirmed reports.

But Russian pipeline gas still accounts for three-quarters of the imports and the volume supplied has grown recently, but not to the maximum allowed under Polish import contracts. Russia's share of the Polish market though has not increased. This is despite Russian gas now being seen as the lowest-priced import source.

Between January and August, imports of LNG have risen by nearly 64% compared with the same period last year; while imports of natural gas from Russia – also indexed to oil – have gone up about 7%.

PGNiG however said that it has always taken less gas from Russia than the maximum annual contract quantity "agreed years ago in the long-term contract expiring in 2022."

Apart from natural gas extraction in Poland, which covers around a quarter of Polish demand, PGNiG is importing growing volumes of natural gas in response to a rapid growth in domestic demand, partly as the distribution network grows. Demand rose from 15bn m³ in 2015 to 17bn m³ in 2017, it said. These numbers represent the most dynamic increase in the history of the Polish market, and account for one of the biggest increases in Europe, it said.

PGNiG has been continuing its efforts to diversify sources and lines of natural gas supply, and has also been preparing for supplying the Polish market with natural gas extracted in the Norwegian Continental Shelf: from the end of 2022 it will start receiving gas through the 10bn m³/yr Baltic Pipe spanning the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea - some being its own Norwegian equity gas.

Furthermore, under multi-year contracts now being prepared, beginning from 2022 PGNiG will have an annual portfolio of over 4mn mt/year of LNG coming from the US, or about 5.5bn m³/yr when regasified, assuming it opts to take delivery in Poland. It has already decided to expand its Swinoujscie terminal by adding a third LNG storage tank which will increase its regas capacity from 5bn to 7.5bn m3/yr. 

PGNiG is not the sole importer of gas, but it has a very strong position in the market and a number of trader have left as they cannot compete with it.