Polish state-owned company Polskie LNG has received offers to build a liquefied natural gas, or LNG, terminal from three consortia, which include Italian, Korean and Polish builders it shortlisted last year, the company said Friday.
The groups are Italy's Saipem SpA (SPM.MI) with Poland's PBG (PBG.WA), Italy's Tecnimont SpA with Poland's Polimex-Mostostal SA (PXM.WA) and France's Sofregaz SA, and Korea's Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co (047040.SE) with Korea Gas Corporation (036460.SE).
Polskie LNG will now negotiate with the bidders who will be expected to file final offers in April. The company plans to sign an agreement with the winning consortium in May.
Construction will begin in the second half of this year, with the terminal set for completion by the end of the first half of 2014.
The LNG terminal's capacity will be 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, which may be expanded to 7.5 billion cubic meters a year. Poland currently consumes around 14 billion cubic meters a year, the company said.
According to earlier reports, the cost of the project is estimated at EUR700 million. The terminal, to be located on Poland's Baltic coast near the border with Germany, is part of the central European country's drive to diversify its potential gas supply sources and reduce its reliance on Russia, which provides 60% of Poland's annual gas supply.