OPEC's Loss Is Poland's Gain as Shale Boom Tames Inflation

North America’s shale industry may be the swing producer in the oil market, but it’s becoming a dominant factor across the Atlantic for eastern Europe’s biggest importer of energy.

OPEC’s loss of its pricing power, combined with cost reductions and advances in extraction technologies, have resulted in an “important and irreversible change” for Poland’s $475 billion economy, according to central bank Governor Adam Glapinski, who says shale production is effectively capping oil at about $50 a barrel.