Poland Opens LNG Terminal, Pledges to End Russian Dependence
- Baltic Sea terminal to receive first tanker in December
- Poland plans to pipe gas from port to east European neighbors
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Thirteen days before Poland’s general election, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz opened the nation’s first terminal to import liquefied natural gas and promised “full independence” from Russian gas supplies from next year.
The facility is ready for startup tests and will get a first shipment of LNG from Qatar between Dec. 11 and Dec. 17 to cool the plant, with commercial deliveries starting in 2016, two years later than initially planned. Poland, a key transit country for Russian gas supplies to western Europe, has criticized plans by Gazprom PJSC to expand its undersea pipeline directly to Germany, which bypasses east European countries that rely on Russia for their energy.