EurOil: Poland prepares to lay Baltic Pipe

Preparations are underway for pipelaying to begin at the Baltic Pipe project that will flow Norwegian gas to Poland, Polish gas transmission system operator Gaz-System reported on May 6.

The EU-backed pipeline will deliver 10bn cubic metres per year of gas to Poland at full capacity, helping the country to wean itself off Russian gas and replace more coal-fired power generation with cleaner gas-burning plants. Gaz-System finished the hiring process for all key contractors for the €2.1bn ($2.55bn) project in December.

In April, the operator announced that the drilling of a tunnel for the pipeline’s landfall site on the Polish coast had begun, and that similar work in Denmark would commence shortly. According to Gaz-System, offshore pipelaying should begin in the summer. Welding will be completed this year, and in 2022 pressure tests, trials and certification work will take place.

The pipeline is on track to flow its first gas in October 2022, two months before Polish state gas importer PGNiG’s long-term supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom expires.

In other European oil and gas news, Royal Dutch Shell has filed an environmental assessment with authorities for the Jackdaw field in the UK North Sea, bring the delayed project one step closer to a final investment decision (FID). Jackdaw, estimated to contain between 120 and 250mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe), is due to start production in the third or fourth quarter of 2024.

Lastly, Serica Energy has extended the life of its flagship Bruce gas field up until 2030, marking its second extension since the company acquired the asset in 2018. Its shutdown was originally scheduled for 2026.

A new competent person's report (CPR) has placed Bruce’s remaining recoverable hydrocarbon reserves at 61mn boe. They were assessed at 62mn barrels in January 2020, even though 8mn barrels have been extracted since then. The resource upgrade and lower breakeven costs have given Bruce extra time.

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