Poland Opts For LNG From US To Ease Dependence On Russia

Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG said on Wednesday that it had sealed an unprecedented 20-year deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from the United States in a bid to ease its heavy dependence on Russian supplies.

Warsaw, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Oct, 2018 ) :Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG said on Wednesday that it had sealed an unprecedented 20-year deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from the United States in a bid to ease its heavy dependence on Russian supplies.

"Today we can fulfil our efforts to improve the sovereignty, security and competitiveness of our gas sector," Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday, adding that the deal will help reduce Poland's reliance on Kremlin-backed Russian energy giant Gazprom.

US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher told reporters the contract was part of a drive by the Trump administration to establish the United States as the "world's largest LNG exporter".

The deal concluded by the Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) with two subsidiaries of the US-based Venture Global LNG will provide Poland with up to two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year, a PGNiG company statement said.

Once regasified, it is the equivalent of 2.7 billion cubic metres of natural gas.

The deal with the US firm is due to take full effect in 2022, just as Warsaw's current contract with Gazprom for 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year is set to end.

Poland currently relies on the Russian giant for about two-thirds of its gas, with domestic supplies accounting for around a quarter of its market.

Warsaw is also eyeing imports from Norway and Qatar.