New Estimates Cuts Poland’s Shale-Gas Expectations

According to a new report, Poland's recoverable shale-gas reserves are far lower than originally forecast.

A Polish government report has estimated such reserves are between 346 billion and 768 billion cubic meters.

A U.S. estimate last year put the reserves at some 5.3 trillion cubic meters.

Even if the new estimates are correct, the amount would be enough to fully satisfy Poland's gas requirements for about seven decades.

Deputy Environment Minister Piotr Wozniak stressed that the new shale-gas estimates are preliminary and could be revised upward when findings are published from wells currently being drilled.

Currently, about 70 percent of Poland's annual needs of 14.4 billion cubic meters of gas are imported from Russia.

With AP and local media reports