ORLEN has signed a contract to sell its shares in Gas Storage Poland, thus fulfilling a condition of the merger of ORLEN and PGNiG indicated by the President of UOKiK. The agreement pertains to the sale of the storage system operator alone, while the storage facilities themselves remain the property of the ORLEN Group. The purchaser of the shares is Gaz-System, the state-owned transmission system operator. Their acquisition still requires approval from the President of UOKiK for concentration. This transaction is another significant step towards strengthening Poland’s energy security.
The agreement between ORLEN and Gaz-System was preceded in February by the consent of the company’s shareholders to sell 100% of the shares in Gas Storage Poland, which serves as an operator of the natural gas storage system. The operator provides storage capacities and installation powers to all participants in the gas storage services market. ORLEN entered into an agreement with Gas Storage Poland, under which the company manages the capacities of the underground gas storage facilities belonging to the conglomerate, located in Kosakowo, Mogilno, Wierzchowice, Brzeźnica, Swarzów, Husów, and Strachocina. Their total storage capacity currently exceeds 3.3 billion cubic meters.
ORLEN is currently investing in expanding the storage capacity of PMG Wierzchowice, the largest underground gas storage facility in Poland, which will increase by 800 million cubic meters – from the current 1.3 billion cubic meters to 2.1. As a result of this investment, Poland’s gas storage capabilities will increase by a quarter to 4.1 billion cubic meters, significantly increasing the security of gas supplies to Polish consumers. The completion of construction work is planned for the turn of 2025 and 2026.
