Poland pins its hopes on an oil and gas deposit near Świnoujście

Canadian company Central European Petroleum (CEP) has announced that it has discovered what is apparently Poland’s largest oil and natural gas deposit off the western part of the country’s Baltic Sea coast. Polish media are reporting the news today.

According to estimates, the deposit near the port city of Świnoujście contains five billion cubic metres of gas and 22 million tonnes of recoverable oil. The onet.pl website reports that the wider area, for which CEP holds a concession from the Polish Ministry of the Environment, may contain 27 billion cubic metres of gas and 33 million tonnes of oil. According to the PAP news agency, it is one of the largest conventional oil discoveries in Europe in the past decade.

“If the discovery is definitively confirmed, it could be one of the largest oil and natural gas deposits in Poland,” said Krzysztof Galos, deputy minister of the environment and Poland’s chief geologist.

He added that the deposit could significantly contribute to strengthening Poland’s energy security and mark a breakthrough in the exploration of energy resources in the Polish exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea, which has so far been little explored.

CEP holds a concession for oil and gas exploration and production across an area of 593 square kilometres near Świnoujście. The company is based in Calgary, Canada, and its majority owners are Norwegian shareholders, Polish Television (TVP) says on its website.