Poland has only 20 active shale gas licenses

The number of licenses for prospecting hydrocarbons from unconventional deposits, including shale gas, issued by the Polish Ministry of the Environment stood at 20 at end-August, while the number of exploratory wells reached 72. ShaleTech Energy is the leader with 7 concessions, followed by Orlen and Lotos with 4 each. The figures remain unchanged compared to end-2016, but it’s a far cry from the 2011-12 shale gas craze when the number of licenses exceeded 100. Poland has significant deposits of shale gas, but it’s located too deep for its excavation to be commercially feasible. The last exploratory drilling in Poland was completed in August last year, according to the ministry data. The total area of the licensed area is PLN 15.59k sqkm.