Poland signed plans to import 1 million tons of liquid natural gas from Qatar annually by ship from the Persian Gulf to the Baltic Sea, Polish Radio said. To diversify its supply of energy, Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA (Polish State Gas and Oil Mining) signed the 20-year agreement that calls for the first ships to bring in liquid gas from Qatar to the Swinoujscie sea terminal on the northwest Baltic coast in 2014, the radio reported Wednesday. The Polish company signed the agreement on liquid gas imports with the Qatargas. The company plans to use the liquid gas to supply both retail consumers and power plants. Poland announced plans to build an LNG import terminal more than three years ago and also is building a pipeline from Norway. About two-thirds of its gas comes from the former Soviet Union, making it vulnerable to supply cuts like the one earlier this year following a dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Qatar Gas will sell Polskie Gornictwo 1 million tons of LNG annually a year from 2014 to 2034, the companies said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. That's equivalent to about 1.4 billion cubic meters, or roughly one-tenth of Poland's annual consumption. “An additional source of gas will significantly improve our negotiating position,” Joanna Zakrzewska, a spokeswoman for Warsaw-based Gornictwo, told the TVN CNBC Biznes television channel. Gornictwo is seeking new supplies from Russia's OAO Gazprom after deliveries from RosUkrEnergo AG, the trader that sells about 22 percent of gas exports to Poland from the former Soviet Union, were halted earlier this year by the Russian-Ukrainian dispute. The agreement with RosUkrEnergo is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah Attiyah said that Qatargas train 4, the first of four new liquefied natural gas trains, has commenced smoothly after officially opening in April 2009. Qatargas train 4, was closed for work in March 2009 shortly after it shipped its first cargo to India. Qatargas 4 has yet to supply a second cargo. Attiyah said he was unaware of any problems with the start up of the world's largest LNG processing facility. “I don't hear of any technical problems,” Attiyah told Reuters. “This is normal for commissioning.” In Qatargas 4, Qatar Petroleum has 70 percent stake and Royal Dutch Shell plc has remaining 30 percent stake.
