According to Oil and Gas Journal, Poland had proven reserves of 96 million barrels in 2005 with Poland producing 33,550 bbl/d of oil during 2005. According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Poland consumed an average of 531.92 thousand barrels a day of oil in 2007, 0.61% of the world total and a change from 2006 of 15.72 tbpd. Poland is heavily dependent on oil imports, particularly from Russia.
According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Poland had 2007 proved natural gas reserves of 0.11 trillion cubic metres, 0.06% of the world total, and natural gas production of 4.27 billion cubic metres, 0.14% of the world total. Poland consumed 13.69 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2007, 0.46% of the world total. Increased consumption of natural gas is key to meeting EU environmental standards.
In Poland, PetroBaltic, owned by Poland's State Treasury, produces crude oil from the B-3 field in the Baltic Sea. The company also conducts exploration activities internationally, such as in Syria, Yemen, Russia, and Nigeria. The Polish Oil and Gas Company (POGC) is the other major crude oil producer in Poland.
In Poland, the two key oil companies are PKN Orlen, established in 1999 after a merger of two large former state-owned enterprises, P’ock refinery and fuel distributor Centrala Produktow Naftowych and Grupa Lotus (GL), formed in 2003 (formerly the Gdansk refinery). In September 2002, the Polish government adopted a restructuring and privatization program for the country’s oil sector. The government created Nafta Polska to be in charge of privatizing the Polish oil sector while the government retained 100% ownership in PERN, the country’s oil transportation company, and a 35% stake in petroleum logistic company Naftobazy. Nafta Polska reportedly transferred 10% stakes in three southern refineries (Czechowice, Jaso, and Nafta Glimar) and a 75% stake in Petrobaltic to GL in March 2004. The Polish government currently controls directly and indirectly 85% of GL. The main goal the country's restructuring process is to prepare the country's fuel sector for increased competition in the European market through consolidation of the country’s own oil assets and diversification of suppliers.
PKN Orlen, of which 28% remains controlled by the Polish government, signed a declaration of intent on strategic cooperation with Hungary's MOL in November 2003. A merger between the two companies could create a large regional company, able to compete with other large oil companies. In July 2003, Mol acquired a 25% stake in Croatia’s state-controlled oil company INA, bolstering the company’s other key acquisition, Slovakia’s refiner and petrochemical company Slovnaft, in which it has a 98.4% stake. In June 2004, PKN Orlen purchased a 63% stake in the Czech oil firm Unipetrol, consisting of over 20 companies, including refineries, gas station chains and a pharmaceutical firm.
