Shale Gas - Recent Developments

Poland is widely regarded one of the countries with the most substantial reserves of shale gas in EU. The Polish government believes that a new piece of legislation will facilitate the activities of the country's shale gas industry and encourage entrepreneurs to invest in Poland.

On 11 March 2014, the Polish government adopted a draft Bill to amend the Geological and Mining Law (the "Amending Bill") and a draft Bill on Special Hydrocarbon Tax (the "Tax Bill"). The proposed legislation aims to both regulate and facilitate activity in the shale gas industry. The Bills will be forwarded to the parliament shortly.

Poland is widely regarded to be one of the countries with the most substantial reserves of shale gas in EU. However, the lack of appropriate legislation has been treated as a discouraging factor by potential investors. The country's government believes that this situation will change with adoption of the Amending Bill and the Tax Bill, as the current wording