PGNIG recently decided to withdraw from its oil and gas exploration project in Egypt amid geopolitical risks, reported Reuters.“PGNiG’s decision to back out of the Baharyia concession (in Egypt) was made because of the future works’ high exploration risk and low chances of finding a substantial accumulation of hydrocarbons,” stated PGNiG’s press office, according to daily Rzeczpospolita.
PGNIG has been trying to diversify its natural gas sources away from Russian supplies whereas It has invested in exploring for shale gas in Poland, contracted with Qatar for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and invested in gas extraction from conventional deposits in Poland.
On the other hand, PGNIG has already taken a $136m write-down which is equivalent to its entire investment in a gas and oil exploration project in Libya as a result of delays and military conflict there, whereas a similar procedure is expected to be followed with Pakistan.