Poland has the largest reserves of shale gas in Europe

07.04.2011

Poland has some of the world's largest and Europe's largest shale gas resources – according to a report published on Tuesday on the prospects for unconventional gas production in the world. The document comes from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Active search for shale gas in Poland has been going on for some time. The aim – rich organic shales from the Silurian-Ordovician period, which are located in a belt from northern Poland, through the center of the country, to its south-eastern part (see image below). Shale gas is concentrated in three basins called Baltic (north), Lubelski and and Podlaski. United States predict that it is in these three regions of Poland, where extraction of gas will be the most cost-effective.

Polish reserves are estimated at 22.43 trillion cubic meters, of which approximately 5.29 billion cubic meters of gas is suitable for mining. Of the 32 countries of the world, Poland is in the 9th place in terms of the abundance of shale gas. Greater resources were found in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Algeria, Libya, South Africa and China, but all these countries have a much larger area than Poland.

Areas rich in shale like the Baltic basin have been largely leased. The most active company operating in this region is 3Legs Resources, owned by Lane Energy Poland and cooperating with ConocoPhilips. The first wells were made in late September 2010, but their results were not disclosed. In the same area BNK Petroleum, Talisman Energy, Marathon Oil, Chevron and ExxonMobil are preparing to search. The most active company operating in Lublin basin is Haliburton (made the first hole on behalf of PGNiG in August 2010). The results were withheld.

Based on a Polish text by: Michal Jankowski from Wirtualna Polska (source).