Poland could become major gas supplier

WARSAW, Poland, April 5 (UPI) -- Oil and gas experts predict Poland will become a major natural gas supplier with enough reserves to make it self-sufficient in the near future.

One firm, Wood Mackenzie, estimates Poland has 48 trillion cubic feet of reserves in areas deemed unconventional but accessible through an extraction technique developed in the United States that now produces 50 percent of the U.S. natural gas output.

The technique of hydraulic fracturing allows energy companies to extract natural gas from tight rock formations, The Times of London Online reported Monday.

Oisin Fanning, chairman of British firm San Leon Energy, said, "Poland is going to emerge as a significant gas producer and there is a lot of interest."

Interest as been spurred by "some of the best fiscal terms in the world," said Aurelian Oil and Gas Chief Executive Officer Rowen Bainbridge.

The government is asking for only 23 percent of the take, which "is creating a very large commercial incentive to develop these deposits," he said.

Developing its own supplies would be a huge turnaround for Poland, which now imports 72 percent of its natural gas, The Times said.