WARSAW (Reuters) – The Polish cabinet is discussing loosening gas trading rules, extending tariff protection for consumers, and contingency planning for grid operators to allow for a swift reaction if the energy crisis deteriorates, the government said on Tuesday.
“An exceptional situation on global energy markets caused by Russia’s aggression on Ukraine and surging gas prices… create a necessity for special legal measures that allow for a real-time reaction if the situation deteriorates further,” the government said.
Proposed measures include a suspension of the rules obliging gas companies to trade fuel at the Warsaw exchange if a gas crisis is declared, an extension of tariff protection for 7.1 million small consumers including households until 2027, and contingency planning for gas storage and transmission operators.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, European countries that rely on Russian gas have been struggling to cut their dependence on the fuel, build reserves and make contingency plans for winter when supplies could be strained.
On Monday, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that transports gas from Russia to Germany entered a planned maintenance shutdown, prompting concerns about gas supplies to Europe if the outage is extended.
Poland, which has been cut off from Russian supplies since April, has a relatively comfortable gas balance now thanks to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal running at full capacity and low summer demand.
However, if Russian deliveries to Europe stop, cross-border deliveries across the continent will be strained.
Existing regulations already allow the government to cut deliveries to consumers if supply security is at risk.
Separately, Poland plans to boost gas storage capacity to 4 billion cubic meters. Existing storage facilities are now 98% full, but their capacity of 3.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) is relatively small compared to annual consumption of about 20 bcm.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Jan Harvey)
