As Poland announced the first U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deal in Central Europe, state oil and gas company PGNiG says importing North American gas is 25% cheaper than buying Russian gas.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, PGNiG CEO Piotr Woźniak said Poland pays roughly a quarter less for U.S. gas than for Russian product, Kallanish Energy learns.
The CEO announced the 20-year supply deal signed with U.S.’s Venture Global LNG, but didn’t disclose details on the U.S. and Russian prices. (See related story.)
The company is expected to sign another new long-term LNG contract to ensure gas supplies to Poland by year-end, said Deputy CEO Maciej Woźniak, without further elaboration.
As the Polish government seeks to wean itself off Russian gas dependency and grow ties with the U.S., the Eastern European country is expected to increase its gas consumption by roughly 2.3 billion cubic meters per year (Bcm/y).
Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the conference “today the use of gas for the last year was 17.7 Bcm, and we project that in three to four years, this will be around 20 Bcm.”
PGNiG’s long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom expires around 2022, when the new supply of U.S. LNG should start. Russia currently supplies around two-thirds of the Polish gas demand, but ongoing disputes have soured relations between the companies.
On Tuesday, PGNiG filed a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union against the commission’s decision regarding the settlement with Gazprom, announced in May. The decision ended years of anti-trust proceedings against the Russian giant, without penalties.
PGNiG claims Gazprom “has not ceased to breach EU law and continues to inflate gas prices to its recipients in Central and Eastern Europe.”
