Poland Giving Away Gas Riches

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland's Law and Justice Party, warned of the country losing control of its shale gas fields to those who have “completely different interests than Poland.”

Kaczynski was speaking after the Polish Parliament adopted a Geological and Mining law regulating the rules for carrying out geological work, extracting minerals from deposits, underground bulk storage of substances and underground storage of waste.

He spoke of Polish deposits of shale gas of not only being an economic asset, but a political asset that assists in becoming independent from external suppliers, not only in Poland but in much of Europe.

In Kaczynski's opinion, shale gas fields could be worth upwards of a trillion dollars – a significant figure exceeding Polish GDP.

With prospective shale acreage mostly allocated, part of Kaczynski concern lies in the view of many that Polish authorities granted shale concessions too cheaply.

Several recent transactions may have created the perception that companies who were fortunate to gain shale gas concessions at an early stage, are now reaping the rewards through the sale or joint venturing of interests on advantageous terms.

Early movers San Leon Energy, 3Legs Resources and most recently, Marathon Oil, have all entered into joint ventures. ExxonMobil announced that it was farming-out an interest in four concessions in the Podlaise Basin, Realm Energy International is reportedly in talks with prospective joint venture partners and ENI SpA purchased three concessions originally held by Minsk Energy Resources.

According to a report by U.S. Energy Information Administration Agency, Poland hold the greatest potentional for shale gas resources in Europe at shale at an estimated 5.29 trillion cubic meters.

Watch the Video on Polish Shale Gas HERE

Related Article from Rzeczpospolita (in Polish) HERE