Poland’s gas firm PGNiG would be interested in gas from Israel, its Chief Executive Piotr Wozniak said on Thursday, as the company seeks to diversify from Russian gas.
More than half of the gas sold by state-run PGNiG comes from Russia’s Gazprom based on a long-term deal which expires in 2022. PGNiG has taken steps to reduce that reliance as it does not plan to extend the agreement.
It has secured purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies via a Baltic Sea terminal, mostly from Qatar, the United States and Norway. It also plans to import gas from Norway, including its own deposits in Norway via a planned Baltic Pipe pipeline.
“We want to be the company at the crossroads of North-South and East-West... we need something to the south. Something reliable. So we are looking at all those places to the south of Poland very carefully... So yes, we are interested in Israel,” Wozniak told Reuters .
A number of large gas discoveries offshore Israel and in nearby eastern Mediterranean waters in the last decade have made Israel a potentially lucrative prospect for big energy firms. The region is emerging as a new hot spot for gas exploration and production.
