WARSAW, March 6 (Reuters) - Poland's state-owned gas
pipeline operator is gauging market interest in additional
capacity at its planned floating storage and regasification unit
(FSRU) because of growing demand for supplies of liquefied
natural gas (LNG).
The planned FSRU to be situated on the Baltic Sea near
Gdansk in 2026 is currently slated to have regasification
capacity of 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year. The
nation already has an LNG terminal with capacity 6.2 bcm.
"The geopolitical situation and a halt in Russian gas
supplies to the European Union have increased interest in stable
and secure gas supplies, including via LNG terminals," Marcin
Chludzinski, Chief Executive of pipeline company Gaz-System,
said in a statement on Monday.
"Given these signals we decided to check market interest in
enabling additional supplies via FSRU in Gdansk."
The additional capacity could amount to as much as 4.5 bcm,
Gaz-System said, adding that a final decision will depend on the
level of interest from market participants.
Poland last year said it could build a second floating FSRU
next to the planned installation because of interest from the
Czech Republic and Slovakia.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki
Editing by David Goodman)
