PGNiG and DONG trying to keep deal alive

Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG) and the Danish company DONG are not abandoning the contract they signed in 2001, instead they have extended its validity by one year and are now analyzing the chances of fulfilling it. Under the deal, Poland would be supplied with 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year between 2005 and 2011. The companies would construct an under-sea gas pipeline, Baltic Pipe, which would deliver gas from Denmark to Poland. Representatives of PGNiG and DONG held a meeting on Wednesday and, "We have signed an appendix to the contract, which extends validity of the deal until the end of 2004. We have sustained all of its foundations," said Marek Kossowski, president of PGNiG. Both companies have also returned to the idea of exporting gas. "We have negotiated solutions that would allow us to sell gas to foreign markets while allowing Denmark to acquire gas if their deposits deplete. By the end of 2004, we are to agree on the list of joint investments and deadlines for carrying them out," stressed Marek Grecki, director of PGNiG gas purchase division. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 6) M.M.