Shale gas the future for Poland?

US know-how could quicken development of shale-gas extraction technologies in Europe, while Poland's hopes for the technology rise.

Europe can learn much from the US about how to use its shale-gas sources, according to Halliburton's expert on unconventional resources.

Speaking at the III CE Gas Summit 2010 about whether US shale-gas developmant could be cloned in Europe, Reinhard Pongratz said that using US know-how could significantly shorten Europe's learning curve.

"If we are more aggressive in trying to deliver US technology to Europe, the development phase can be shorter," he said. Not all technologies can be copied, but Europe can make much use of the knowledge, he said.

Mr Pongratz was also optimistic about the price of shale gas. "If [extracting shale-gas] can be done economically in the US, we can do it here," he said.

The idea of extracting shale gas gained momentum in Poland earlier this year, when Wood MacKenzie experts estimated that the country could be sitting on 1,400 billion cubic meters of shale gas. Other estimates put the amount at as much as 3,000 billion cubic meters.

Poland consumes around 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. If the Wood MacKenzie estimations are correct, shale gas extraction could bring the country gas independence for 100 years, at current consumption rates.

Currently, Poland's annual gas production from domestic sources equals around 4.1 billion cubic meters. About 70 percent of Poland's gas for consumption is imported.

"We will know how much shale gas there is in Poland in about four years, when the licenses granted to companies looking for this type of gas in Poland will begin to expire," said Henryk Jezierski, deputy environment minister and chief national geologist.

The first test drills will begin this year and Mr Jezierski estimates that commercial exploitation of shale gas sources will be possible in 10 to 15 years. In the US, shale gas currently constitutes about 10 percent of gas production, but is expected to reach 50 percent by 2020.
The Environment Ministry has so far issued 44 licenses for unconventional gas exploration in Poland to such companies as ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

Martyna Olik