PGNiG may cease exploration for shale gas in June

Polish state-controlled oil and gas company PGNiG will end exploration for shale gas if a "last chance" well does not yield promising results in June, Piotr Woźniak, the CEO of the company, told reporters on Tuesday. PGNiG will start fracking a shale gas well in northern Poland on June 6. Should it fail to yield good results, the company will end its exploration effort. PGNiG is the last big company actively exploring for shale gas in Poland. Most other major players, including ExxonMobil or ConocoPhillips, withdrew in recent years, citing low oil prices, that have rendered expensive exploration unfeasible. However, the main element was a failure to find commercial flows, as the difficult geology, and the depth of Polish reserves obstructed progress.