Poland: Where the Rubber Hits the (Crumbling) Road
Poland may have outstanding prospects for production of shale gas, but how an operation gets to the rural area where the play is located, and keeps things running – delivering water, sand and materials to rural areas - can be contingent upon the state of the country’s infrastructure.
In a geographical sense, said Gregor Pytel, Oil & Gas Expert from the Sobieski Institute, Polish shale plays were quite accessible. But, as he recounted to delegates at Shale Gas World in Warsaw, Poland, transportation and infrastructure related to shale gas development was probably one of the few things that really didn’t work well in Poland.
He explained: “The logistics can be a showstopper combined with other factors like how much gas is in place. There’s an opportunity to turn shale gas developments in Poland as a force for the country’s infrastructure modernization, but there’s the necessity of cooperation between all stakeholders and ‘joined up’ thinking.
“On other hand, it’s quite densely inhabited. Wherever you go will have to interact with local population,” he said. “There are no areas in Poland which are inaccessible, but generally the roads are in a pretty poor condition and not suitable for heavy traffic.”
Mr. Pytel noted that there was no major road to the Polish capital, Warsaw. And not having a developed road network had some potentially dire consequences for everyday life in rural Poland.
“Roads pass through local villages, so there are traffic and safety issues. Roads in Poland are really dangerous. In rural areas, children going to school get killed. This creates unrest.”
In terms of railways in Poland, he said there was a pretty good grid. He showed delegates parts of Poland’s railroad lines which were previously parts of Germany and Austria.
“In the last 20 years railroads were closed rather than built,” he explained. “It’s there, can be used and the economy can benefit.”
Pytel pointed out there was railroad access to a port in Gdansk.
The “last mile challenge” according to him was getting equipment, people, and supplies to a shale gas play.
He explained that most national roads in Poland were financed by the country’s federal budget, while the remainder was under local jurisdiction.
In terms of meeting the challenges associated with Polish roads, he said cooperation with local communities was key to understanding and meeting their challenges. Pytel also suggested using science to monitor what was going on and to choose the most appropriate transport routes.
Outstanding questions for Poland’s road infrastructure included how could they finance the investment in roads, while locals would need to know how many trucks would be passing through their communities and for what purpose.
His reiterated his “joined up” approach of business thinking for shale gas developers, together with local communities, and pointed out the need for an association of service companies like Poland’s OPPPW to help push things forward.
He commented: “Operators and service companies will not modernize the transport infrastructure, but can be instrumental in catalyzing and promoting the process, putting some pressure on governments.”
“We’ll be lucky if they’re built in 10 years’ time if we act now,” Pytel concluded.