According to a report by the Ministry of Energy, the gas deliveries as well as the Polish system of natural gas worked without any interruptions in 2016. The document also identifies the opportunities and risks, which may impact the development of the gas market in Poland.
It is worth to point out that the level of security of natural gas supply is steadily increasing. This is caused by, among others, the improved liquidity of the Polish gas market, completed diversification investments (mostly the LNG terminal in Świnoujście) and expansion of storage facilities. The report also assumed that the level of security will be increasing in the years to come thanks to the plans to expand the transmission system and, most of all, intensify the efforts regarding the Baltic Pipe, which will connect Norway’s deposits with the Polish transmission system.
The improved security of supply will be also enhanced by the changes introduced to the Act on Mandatory Stocks of Fossil Fuels in 2016. Currently, the responsibility to sustain obligatory stocks of natural gas pertains to all importers of natural gas to Poland. This will refuel the mandatory stocks, which have decreased in the previous years.
Still, the challenges and potential risks to the security of natural gas supplies include:
- planned construction of Nord Stream 2
- EU Court of Justice’s dismissal of the complaint on the EC’s decision on the OPAL pipeline, which strengthens Gazprom’s dominant position in the EU,
- EC ending the first stage of the antitrust investigation against Gazprom without stating the Russian company infringed on the competition law.
Ministry of Energy