Poland's drive to exploit shale gas has come to an end with state-run gas firm PGNiG and oil refiner PKN Orlen drawing a line under projects to find it.
The country's quest to explore for shale gas began five years ago, when the then prime minister Donald Tusk raised hopes with a forecast of it coming on stream in 2014.
This attracted global energy majors, including Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Total SA (NYSE: TOT), but one by one they pulled back after disappointing results and a slump in oil prices.
Polish state-run firms, including PGNiG and PKN Orlen were the last ones to work on the country's shale gas projects.
"The discussion and projects related to shale gas is a closed issue for us," Miroslaw Kochalski, deputy head of PKN Orlen told a news conference on Oct. 12.
This was echoed by Piotr Wozniak, CEO at PGNiG, who said:
"Shale gas has ended not that badly when it comes to the improved techniques of unconventional gas exploration. Shale gas as such has failed indeed."
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