Lane Energy is confident its project will end in success.
Canadian energy exploration company Lane Energy, a subsidiary of the 3Legs Resources group, last week spudded the country’s first shale gas test well in Łebień, close to Lębork in the Pomorze region. It is the first company to carry out this kind of exploration in Poland.

“Lane Energy Poland is very pleased to announce that [vertical] drilling of the Łebień LE1 well has commenced,” the company said in a statement. The firm also said it would likely reach its target depth in six to eight weeks.

“We are confident that we have both the right geological setting and joint venture partner to give our [shale gas drilling] project every chance of success,” said Kamlesh Parmar, country manager for Lane Energy. The results of the exploration will be known in three months.

The company will drill another vertical test well in Poland later this year, and a horizontal well in 2011. In August 2009, US energy firm ConocoPhillips joined with Lane to jointly evaluate the six exploration concessions given to the former by the government. ConocoPhillips, which is financing the initial search phase, has the right to secure a majority equity share in each concession.

According to various studies, between 1.5 trillion and five trillion cubic meters of shale gas could lie beneath the surface of Poland. The country’s current demand for gas totals roughly 14 billion cubic meters, meaning if shale gas can be extracted on an industrial scale, Poland could become a net exporter of the fuel.

Even if the studies prove accurate, however, this scenario would likely play out later rather than sooner. Specialists in deposits and exploration say that drilling and testing will take three to four years and production on an industrial scale will not happen earlier than in 10 years’ time. To date, 60 concessions have been granted for the exploration of shale gas in Poland.