Poland's state-controlled gas firm PGNiG SA (PGN.WA) may launch arbitration proceedings against Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) if by the end of October the Russian firm doesn't agree to cut its prices for natural gas, a PGNiG executive said Wednesday, according to state-owned newswire PAP.

"If we don't get a breakthrough in talks with Gazprom until the end of the month, we will be seeking justice together with others," PAP quoted the company's vice-president, Radoslaw Dudzinski, as saying, adding that E.ON Ruhrgas AG and RWE AG (RWE.XE) are among companies seeking to join the arbitration process.

"We are convinced there are reasons for cutting gas prices even now, during the winter season. The market price for gas is significantly lower than the price in the contract" between PGNiG and Gazprom, Dudzinski added.

Poland relies heavily on Russia to cover its gas needs, importing about two-thirds of its annual gas consumption from Gazprom. Because of that dependence and its inability to import gas from other directions, Poland pays what it sees as excessive prices for Russian gas.

The state-controlled Russian supplier uses a price formula indexed to the price of crude oil, but prices for oil and gas on international markets have recently diverged as demand drops in Europe and gas from new, unconventional sources like shale gas finds its way onto the market.

Poland has in recent years taken several initiatives to reduce its reliance on Gazprom. It is building pipelines connecting it with gas networks in Germany and the Czech Republic . It's building a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Baltic coast to be able to import gas from areas outside Russia .

Poland also hopes to begin commercial production of natural gas trapped deep underground in shale rock, with the U.S. Department of Energy estimating its shale gas deposits at 5.3 trillion cubic meters, or more than three centuries of Poland's annual consumption.

Poland 's domestically produced shale gas should be competitively priced compared with gas imported from Russia , the country's deputy treasury minister, Mikolaj Budzanowski, said last month.

Διαβάστε ακόμα