Pipeline deal marks move to gas supply diversification

Chairman of Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG), Andrzej Lipko, has said that Poland and Denmark are close to signing a contract to construct the BalticPipe gas pipeline. Confirming the deal, Hans Jurgensen, general managing director of PGNiG's Danish partner, Dansk Olie og Naturgas, said the two countries are poised to build the 230-kilometer long pipeline, at a cost of euro 335 million. It is rumored that Norwegian oil giant Statoil AS may also be interested in the project. The pipeline, connecting the city of Stevens in Denmark with Niechorze in Poland, is expected to be operational by 2003. It will carry two billion cubic meters of natural gas from Denmark to Poland each year. Poland is also believed to be negotiating another deal that would bring five billion cubic meters of natural gas annually into the country from Norway. The developments come at a time when the Polish government is attempting to diversify its gas imports, which come predominantly from Russia. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2, Reuters) J.K.