Poland does not plan to renew a long-term gas supply contract with Russia when its current deal with Gazprom expires in 2022, according to government energy official Piotr Naimski, Reuters reported on Monday.
”We will be aiming at a situation where a long-term contract becomes a thing of the past. If the price of Russian gas is competitive enough we do not rule out buying it, but definitely not as part of a long-term contract,” the government official told the Reuters Eastern Europe Investment Summit at Reuters` office in Warsaw, according to the report.
It is reported that Polish state-run gas firm PGNiG buys up to 10.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year from Russian gas giant Gazprom, accounting for the bulk of Poland`s annual consumption of nearly 15 bcm. The contract, signed in 1996, expires in 2022, the report said.
Naimski stated that thanks to the LNG terminal Poland will be able to import up to 5 bcm of gas annually. So far, one long-term contract has been agreed for the terminal – for Qatar gas to supply PGNiG with 1.5 bcm annually.
PGNiG also plans to build a pipeline to carry gas from Norway to Poland to reduce Poland`s dependence on Russia and is due to present details of its plan later this year. It would be up and running by 2022, according to Reuters.
”Various options are being considered at the moment, but there is no rush. We are analyzing, calculating, this is being influenced by external conditions, oil prices. It could happen that some steps will be taken, but there is no such decision at the moment,” Naimski said.
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