Poland's Orlen, Gaz-System Sign Gas Deal for Planned Floating Terminal

Poland's Orlen has signed a contract with state-owned pipeline operator Gaz-System for the regasification of up to 58 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes per year at a planned floating gas terminal, the energy company said on Friday.

Poland has turned to seaborne LNG as well as gas piped from Norway via Denmark and the Baltic Sea to replace supply from Russia.

The planned terminal is to be built on the Baltic Sea near Gdansk by the end of 2027 with an initial regasification capacity of 6.1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year.

"Poland's fuel and energy security has always been a priority for us," Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"An example is the contract signed today with Gaz-System enabling the receipt of up to 58 LNG deliveries per year."

"Last year, the political events related to the war in Ukraine completely changed the direction of natural gas supplies to the European Union," said Anna Lukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, Poland's secretary of state in charge of strategic energy infrastructure.

"We are observing an increase in LNG supplies from the global market by over 60%. Poland is taking advantage of this trend and has ambitions to become a gas hub for Central and Eastern Europe."

Gaz-System plans to boost capacity at Gdansk and is looking to add a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) capable of receiving 4.5 bcm of gas per year. 

The company is in talks with shipowners about providing the second FSRU, Deputy CEO Andrzej Kensbok said.    

(Reuters - Reporting by Marek Strzelecki and Alan Charlish; editing by Jason Neely)