PGNiG Unit to Drill Polish Shale Wells for TalismaA fully owned unit of Poland’sdominant gas supplier, known as PGNiG, will drill three wellsfor Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) in potential shale deposits in thenorth of the country.
PNiG Nafta will start drilling for Calgary-based Talismanin September under an agreement signed today, the Pila-basedcompany said in an e-mailed statement.
Poland’s reserves of shale gas may be as much as 5.2trillion cubic meters, the U.S. Energy InformationAdministration said in a report published earlier this month,potentially making the eastern European country a net exporterof gas and reducing the region’s dependence on Russia.
Shale development, where rock formations are horizontallydrilled and fractured using water and other liquids under highpressure, is driving a surge in U.S. gas output. Poland’sdeposits have drawn interest from companies including ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and ConocoPhillips. (COP)
Talisman’s licenses are in the Baltic basin in northernPoland. PNiG Nafta is also drilling for ConocoPhillips, and willspud wells for Chevron in the fall .