Poland’s PGNiG to Sign LNG Contracts

To take advantage of an expected supply gut, the Polish gas firm PGNiG is expected to sign short and mid-term contracts for liquefied natural gas by mid-2018.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, the firm’s vice-president Maciej Wozniak said: "For a few months we have been in talks with our partners on further LNG supplies to Poland. Of course, we are talking not only to American contractors.”

According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump‘s visit to Warsaw last month, which focused on security and energy, has boosted expectations of more US LNG supplies for Poland.

PGNiG’s sole LNG supply deal so far is with Qatargas, which in March agreed to double deliveries to Poland to 2.9bn cubic metres (bcm) per year until 2034.

Swinoujscie’s annual capacity is currently 5 bcm which is to be expanded to 7.5 bcm.

"We are also planning mid and short-term contracts,” Wozniak told Reuters, referring to deals for up to two years and others for around seven years.

"We’d like to enter the second half of 2018 with a supply portfolio constructed in this way,” he said.

According to Reuters, PGNiG wants to diversify its gas supplies to cut reliance on Russia but also to boost sales to clients in Poland and neighbouring countries. It is currently in talks with its partners in the Visegrad Group, which includes the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

Last year, Poland opened its LNG terminal at Swinoujscie on the Baltic Sea to reduce its reliance on Russian gas supplies.