Polish Foreign Minister Talks Energy Diversification in Washington

Poland will complete its LNG terminal project in Świnoujście next year and would also like to import natural gas from the United States' shale reserves, as reported Tuesday on Polskie Radio.

“The imports will allow us … to buy gas at more competitive prices,” said the Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Tuesday, after a visit with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Sikorski confirmed in Washington that the Polish government wants to diversify its energy mix. Warsaw is investing in the LNG terminal in Świnoujście as part of a diversification process, which includes the country’s hunt for shale gas and higher interconnections with Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The project is the first of its kind in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe and  aims to reduce the dependence on Russian gas imports. Its completion is scheduled for mid-2014. The terminal will be able to receive up to 5 bcm per year with a possibility of extension to 7.5 bcm per year.