A law liberalising Polish gas storage is poised to be watered down following changes to the bill in parliament.
Opposition parties and the government plan amendments to the bill. The changes "put more emphasis on security" rather than liberalisation, according to ruling coalition deputy Jerzy Meysztowicz, who presented the bill in parliament on Tuesday.
These changes make it less likely that Poland's gas market will open up for more importers — outside state-controlled incumbent Orlen. "International traders are losing hope for Poland," a gas lobby group told Argus. Pressure from Orlen and other industrial users might have prompted lawmakers to try to water down the bill, market participants have said.
The government proposed a gas stocks reform bill in April. It suggested state-owned strategic reserves agency Rars — rather than importers — take responsibility for buying and storing gas to meet storage obligations. Customers would pay Rars for maintaining these stocks.
But this week, government withdrew plans to charge consumers for Rars stocks. Opposition parties welcomed the U-turn, arguing payments would further undermine Polish gas-intensive industries' competitiveness.
The revised version of the bill is aimed at encouraging development of storage capacity. The government hopes to lift capacity to 4.2bn m³ next year from 3.8bn m³ at present.
A parliamentary committee was still finalising the revised bill on Wednesday, and it was unclear whether it will be voted on during the parliamentary session that continues until Thursday. To become law, the president must sign the bill. Karol Nawrocki takes over as president from Andrzej Duda next month.
