WARSAW, Poland, July 20 (UPI) -- Two Polish energy companies said Monday that joining forces might help uncork some of the more attractive oil and gas areas in the country.
The exploration and production arm of Polish refiner Orlen announced it reached an agreement with the Polish gas company known as PGNiG to join forces to review the prospects for oil and gas reserves in the Carpathian mountains.
Zbigniew Skrzypkiewicz, vice president for exploration and production at PGNiG, said in a statement the area is reputed to have a strong concentration of oil and gas.
"I believe that gaining a new partner who offers both co-financing and experience in acquisition and interpretation of geological data, will open for us new perspectives in this area," he said in a statement.
Neither company offered an estimate of the reserve potential in the area in question. Poland is thought to be among the Eastern European countries rich in shale natural gas, with an estimated 148 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable resources.
"Currently, geological works are being conducted, aiming at identification of further locations for exploratory wells, together with preparations for hydraulic fracturing," the companies announced.
With few tapped reserves of its own, however, Poland imports most of its oil and natural gas from Russia. In April, the European Commission said it suspected Russian energy company Gazprom was violating antitrust rules by abusing its position in the Central and Eastern European markets
Last week, the European Commission said Poland's plans to grant nearly $830 million in grants to nine different gas projects are line with efforts to advance a "true energy union" by creating more connections to regional economies.
Five of the nine gas projects set to receive Polish state assistance will connect to European gas networks in the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. The remaining four will eliminate bottlenecks within the Polish transit network.
