Image courtesy of PGNiGPoland’s state-owned gas company PGNiG said the imports of liquefied natural gas from Qatar, Norway and the United States increased tenfold compared to imports of natural gas from Russia.
The LNG imports were up on Russian natural gas imports in terms of volume as well, PGNiG said in a statement.
Between January and July 2018, PGNiG imported around 0.6 bcm more of LNG on a year-on-year basis, which is an increase of 60 percent. Gas imports from Russia for the same period rose on a year-on-year basis by less than 0.4 bcm, an increase of just 6 percent.
Moreover, PGNiG informs that volatility in annual Russian gas import is not a result of any long-term contract amendments. Annual import volumes must always exceed a minimal level imposed by Gazprom under a take-or-pay clause, and they need to be smaller than maximum annual volumes agreed years ago in the long-term import contract which is to expire in 2022, PGNiG said.
The company also added that between January and July 2018 the share of Russian gas in PGNiG import structure has decreased and currently stands at 75 percent of total imports contracted by PGNiG, which is a drop by further 2 percent year-on-year.
In the same period, the share of LNG has been steadily rising to reach 19 percent of total imports contracted by PGNiG, representing an increase of 6 percent year-on-year.
PGNiG’s report comes as a response to Gazprom’s statements on its natural gas sales to Poland.
The Polish company added that apart from the domestic production of natural gas which covers around 25 percent of the demand, PGNiG is importing growing volumes of natural gas from an increasing number of countries, as a response to rapid market growth.
Natural gas consumption in Poland rose from 15 bcm in 2015 to 17 bcm in 2017.
In addition, the company is set to start importing natural gas coming from the Norwegian Continental Shelf starting in 2022 through the Baltic Pipe gas link. Also starting in 2022, PGNiG will have a portfolio of over 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the USA under the long-term contracts that are currently being developed.