Polish oil and natural gas production rising

WARSAW, Poland, July 22 (UPI) -- Oil and natural gas production in Poland increased during the second quarter of the year, state energy company PGNiG said in a Tuesday report.

In an amended quarterly report, the state energy company said it produced roughly 2.2 million barrels of oil during the full second quarter of the year, a 33 percent increase year-on-year.

For natural gas, the company said its second quarter production volume was nearly 40 billion cubic feet, a 3.7 percent increase over the same period last year.

The European Investment Bank last month loaned Poland $132 million for the expansion of a pipeline that could bring gas, including domestically sourced liquefied natural gas, to the border of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine.

The EIB said the Polish gas project is "crucial" to European energy security.

Poland is thought to be rich in shale natural gas reserves. In April, PGNiG said it would asses shale reserves with the Polish subsidiary of Chevron, though shale developments in the country have been slow to evolve.

PGNiG provided no data on the origin of natural gas produced in its quarterly report.

As of 2013, Poland produced an average 27,680 barrels of oil per day.