Poland's market could absorb more imported liquefied natural gas than
the amount that was planned for a new terminal under construction on the
Baltic coast, the terminal's owner said Wednesday after surveying 22
potential customers.
Polskie LNG, a subsidiary of Poland's state-owned natural gas
pipeline operator, will now calculate the commercial viability of
increasing the regasification capacity of the incomplete LNG terminal to
7.5 billion cubic meters a year from 5 bcm. Polish households and
businesses currently consume about 14 bcm of natural gas per year.
Potential buyers of LNG include power utilities with plans to
build gas-fired power plants, chemical and petrochemical makers like
Grupa Azoty SA (ATT.WA) and PKN Orlen SA (PKN.WA), and state-controlled
gas utility PGNiG SA (PGN.WA).
Poland plans to complete the terminal, located near the city
and seaport of Swinoujscie close to the German border, in mid-2014.
The government considers the project to be strategic because
it will give the central European country the option to import gas from
all over the world, a contrast to its current dependence on Russia. The
two countries have historically had strained relations.
Poland also produces about 4 billion cubic meters of gas
domestically, enough to cover slightly under a third of annual
consumption.
The rules of Polskie LNG's market "screening" don't allow it
to disclose the names of the 22 companies it surveyed, its spokesman
Maciej Mazur said in an email. "They include some of the largest power
companies in Poland."
Mr. Mazur added they have received responses from companies in
Norway, Ukraine, and the Netherlands, but not from the Czech Republic
or Slovakia to date.
"Other foreign companies, including some from Germany and
Sweden, didn't take a formal part in the survey, but expressed interest
in using the Swinoujscie terminal's capacity," Polskie LNG said.