Closing the tap on gas supplies

Last week's extremely low temperatures caused an increase in gas intake of 61.5 million cubic meters per day. If this took place every day throughout the year, Poland's yearly consumption would double. To satisfy the demand for gas the Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) is taking an extra 27 million cubic meters per day from their reserves. "The current level of reserves is over 700 million cubic meters," says Małgorzata Przybylska, a spokesperson for PGNiG.

Last week the government decided to cut gas supplies to heavy industrial companies between January 25 and February 15. The reductions are to be introduced in order to enable PGNiG to satisfy increased demand from individuals. According to its president Andrzej Osiadacz this should not affect the state's energy security. "The list of companies that could be hit by the reduction is over 100," says Osiadacz.

PGNiG cut supplies to some companies, for example PKN Orlen, even before the government's decision. "These reductions result from their trade deals and these companies were not affected by further reductions," says Osiadacz.

The situation would not be so serious if the amount of gas delivered from Ukraine through Drozdowicze hadn't been lowered. Instead of 13.6 million cubic meters per day, only eight to 8.5 million is reaching Poland.

As a result, the Polish government has begun to question the reliability of Russia as a supplier of gas. At last week's Economic Forum in Davos, PM Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz called for a pact to diversify oil and gas supplies. President Lech Kaczyński also said: "Europe must have a comon policy on this issue that takes into consideration the interests of all its members."