Poland's energy balance and its future. The case study of gas as an energy source

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the case study of the Poland’s energy balance with regards to the natural gas. The article states that natural gas will play an increasing role in the balance with Poland’s attempts at diversifying its deliveries. The authors reviewed a lot of sources, mainly Polish, and synthesized them so that the article’s theses could be developed and defended. Among the sources reviewed were governmental official documents issued by Poland’s,Russia’s and European Union’s authorities, academic texts and highly specialized press articles. Natural gas will inevitably increase its position within Poland’s energy balance in the next decades. Poland’s authorities are planning to diversify gas deliveries in order to lessen its dependency on Russian gas. It is a difficult task and needs developments in many fields (constructing newpipelines, among others). If Poland’s shale gas resources prove as high as predicted, the country might become an exporter of the fuel, which will radically alter Poland’s position in the world.