By Martin M. Sobczyk
WARSAW--Poland has been able to draw more Russian natural gas
from the Yamal-Europe major transit pipeline since the start of the
year following construction work, state-owned pipeline operator
Gaz-System said Wednesday.
The move is part of efforts over the past few years to build
more pipelines to diversify Polish supply routes from a single
transit system originating in Russia.
With effect from Jan. 1, Poland is able to access gas destined
for Germany thus getting from the West and South rather than Russia
the more than 90% of the natural gas it needs to import every year,
up from 9% in 2011, said the pipeline's operator.
Russia's OAO Gazprom and Poland's PGNiG SA jointly control the
pipeline running from gas fields in Siberia via Belarus to Poland
and Germany. To meet European Union requirements for giving third
parties access to such transport infrastructure, the pipeline is
managed by the state-owned operator Gaz-System.
About three quarters of some 16 billion cubic meters of natural
gas Poland burns every year come from outside the country and the
bulk of imports from Russia, a legacy of decades of communism and
Poland's subjugation to the Soviet Union.
Over the past few years, Poland has built new pipelines allowing
it to bring more gas from EU neighbors, much of it Russian pumped
via Ukraine and under the Baltic Sea.
Write to Martin M. Sobczyk at martin.sobczyk@wsj.com
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