Shale gas law 'near completion'

Photo: Glowimages

The 'Geological and Mining' law, which is intended to speed up investment in Poland's shale gas exploration programme, has been some two years in the making.

Wozniak, who is also Poland's Chief State Geologist, stressed that a more simplified licensing model has been proposed in the latest amendments.

The deputy minister noted that the most important amendment concerns the limitation of new state body, the National Energy Minerals Operator (NOKE).

Participation of NOKE in investments will still be mandatory, as previously proposed, but its profits will be proportional to its share in the costs, which cannot rise to more than 5 percent.

Under the terms of the amendments, NOKE also loses its right to veto other parties in a prospective investment. It can however submit its reservations, which will be considered by the Ministry of Environment.

Poland is striving to broaden its energy portfolio, partly in a bid to become less dependent on Russian natural gas.

However, earlier this week, US's Energy Information Administration (EIA) echoed recent assessments that suggested that Poland's shale gas resources are smaller than initially believed.

In its latest report, the EIA lowered its estimates from 187 trillion to 148 trillion cubic feet.

Two major international concerns, Exxon Mobil and Talisman Energy, have already dropped out of the programme, and there are fears that there could be further departures, if laws concerning taxation and drilling are not clarified. (nh)

Source: PAP