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Poland’s PGNiG eyeing gas exports, extraction, storage in Ukraine: report

PGNiG

Polish energy giant PGNiG is seeking to export more gas to neighboring Ukraine, while also eyeing extraction and storage opportunities in that country, a website has reported.

The energetyka24.com website cited the company’s deputy CEO Jarosław Wróbel as saying that PGNiG has been “provided with material on potential investment opportunities in Ukraine” under an agreement it signed last month.

“We are studying this information very closely,” Wróbel said, as quoted by energetyka24.com.

“Depending on the results of these analyses, the management board will make strategic decisions on whether or not we should enter a specific area,” he added.

“As far as the Ukrainian market is concerned, we are interested in several areas of cooperation, first of all trade, which means exports of our gas to Ukraine. Another area we are interested in is extraction and production … and the third area that we are definitely interested in is storage,” Wróbel also said, as cited by energetyka24.com.

The Polish gas and oil company in October signed a confidentiality agreement to clear the way for its possible participation in the privatization of Ukraine’s energy sector, according to a report at the time by energetyka24.com.

That deal with the State Property Fund of Ukraine was signed in the presence of Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

It obligates PGNiG to keep confidential any sensitive information about Ukrainian state assets set aside for privatization, according to energetyka24.com.

The CEO at the time, Jerzy Kwieciński, was quoted as saying that the “possible participation of PGNiG in the privatization of the energy sector in Ukraine is an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between our countries and together build energy security in this part of Europe.”

Kwieciński added: “I am convinced that thanks to our experience and competence, we could become a valuable partner for the Ukrainian side.”

The Polish energy giant said in the middle of last month it has signed an investment agreement with Energy Resources of Ukraine (ERU) “on a joint exploration and production project” in Ukraine.

The agreement “sets a general framework for cooperation and provides a schedule of further work on a project located near the Polish border in Ukraine,” according to a statement posted on the company’s website.

Poland’s PGNiG and Energy Resources of Ukraine at the end of last year struck a deal to work together in drilling for and extracting gas from deposits that straddle the Polish-Ukrainian border.

The latest agreements come at a time when Poland is working intensely to reduce its dependence on Russia for gas.

Poland’s PGNiG said in November last year it would not renew a long-term deal on gas imports with Russia’s Gazprom when the contract expires at the end of 2022.

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