Polish gas market status against the background of Europe

Abstract

The article illustrates Polish gas market compared to markets in developed countries, such as Germany and United Kingdom. Development of gas industry in Poland is dependent on geopolitical factors, legal regulations and the state of the infrastructure. In comparison to western Europe countries, Poland has started implementing gas market liberation measures relatively recently. Despite the fact that Poland has started preparations for further development of its transmission infrastructure and commissioned a LNG terminal in Swinujscie, there are still many obstacles like insufficient transmission infrastructure, legal limitations against business competition, as well as long-term contract between PGNiG and Gazprom are inhibiting the liberalization process. Only implementation of all measures aimed at freeing the market will enable the achievement of all the expected benefits, that is obtaining secure supply of fuel at low market prices. The article describes the situation in three countries inside the European Union. Moreover it outlines current state of the emerging pan- -European market and presents the issues hampering the development of the Polish gas market.