PGNiG: LNG share in Polish import mix jumps

Polish state-run Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo said that the LNG’s share in Poland’s total natural gas imports rose to 23 percent in 2019 from 20 percent in 2018. 

The company noted that Poland’s natural gas supply sources and directions is progressing with the share of gas imports from Russia dropping to approximately 60 percent over during the year.

“We can clearly see LNG volumes brought into Poland via the President Lech Kaczyński LNG Terminal in Świnoujście are rising by the year. The first quarter of 2020 will see peak activity in terms of LNG deliveries. By the end of March this year alone we are to receive ten cargoes coming in from different directions,” said Jerzy Kwieciński, president of the PGNIG management board.

He added that the country is bound to import Russian gas by the ‘take or pay’ clause in the Yamal contract, which means that it has to collect at least 8.7 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Gazprom.

“This will continue until the end of 2022, when the Yamal contract expires,” Kwieciński added.

In 2019, PGNiG brought 3.43 billion cubic meters of LNG into Poland, over one-fourth more than a year earlier. LNG imports from the US, Qatar and Norway increased by about 0.7 billion cubic meters (after regasification) on 2018.

Imports from Russia amounted to 8.95 billion cubic meters in 2019, compared with 9.04 billion cubic meters a year earlier.

Consequently, natural gas from Russia accounted for 60.2 percent of PGNiG’s total imports in 2019, which means a 6.6pp drop, with LNG imports having risen 3pp, to 23.1 percent. The remaining share of imports was gas sourced from countries west and south of Poland.

This marks a clear shift towards the diversification of natural gas supplies for Polish consumers.

PGNiG’s total gas imports reached 14.85 billion cubic meters in 2019, about 1.32 billion cubic meters more than the year before.

In 2019, PGNiG received 31 LNG deliveries to Poland, compared with 23 a year earlier. The number of cargoes purchased under short-term, or spot, contracts increased from 4 to 10 during that period.

The first shipment of US LNG has arrived in Poland under a long-term contract with Cheniere Energy, with the annual volumes of deliveries under the contract set to rise in the coming years.

The contracts signed for US LNG will add some 9.3 billion cubic meters (after regasification) of gas per year to PGNiG’s portfolio in 2024–2042.

From 2020 onwards, annual LNG imports from Qatar will amount to approximately 2.7 billion cubic meters (after regasification).

In addition to expanding its LNG portfolio, Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo is making preparations to start supplying Polish customers with gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf, which is to be carried via the Baltic Pipe through the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, starting in late 2022.