The search is taking place on the Baltic Sea bed and is visible from both Poland and Germany, according to reports on Monday.
Local residents were alarmed by a large flame above the LNG terminal in Świnoujście near the Polish-German border, but were told that this was part of a controlled testing procedure.
The CEP company has subcontracted US corporation Noble Resolve and Scottish company Zenith Energy from Aberdeen to survey Poland's Baltic coast for natural gas, according to previous reports.
A view of an offshore drilling platform from the beach near Świnoujście, a Polish port city on the Baltic Sea near the border with Germany. Photo: Radio Poland
Discovery of Baltic gas deposits could boost Poland’s energy security
Rolf G. Skaar, CEO of CEP, told Polish state news agency PAP that the discovery of natural gas deposits, estimated at approximately 16.5 billion cubic meters based on initial data, could have a significant impact on Poland’s energy security.
The gas could be used for the Polish market and exported to Europe via the existing pipeline network. Additionally, it could replace coal in electricity production, helping to reduce CO2 emissions in Poland.
Seen from the beach, the offshore drilling platform in the Baltic Sea seems to hover above the water, creating the illusion that it’s floating in the sky. Photo: Radio Poland
Flame above LNG terminal explained as controlled testing
Recently, local residents from the nearby Polish islands of Wolin and the Polish-German island of Usedom were concerned by the appearance of a clear, high flame above the LNG terminal in Świnoujście.
Iwona Dominiak, spokeswoman for GAZ-System, said in a statement published by the local portal iswinoujscie.pl that this was the result of planned and controlled testing conducted by the LNG terminal’s staff "as part of the cooling of the facility."
Residents in Świnoujście and surrounding areas near Poland’s Wolin Island were alarmed this month by the sight of a massive flame above the LNG terminal. The flame was visible from both from the Polish side of the coast and from nearby Germany. Photo: Radio Poland
To ensure the safety of ongoing expansion work at the gas terminal, a small portion of the raw material had to be neutralized by burning it. This is why the flame was visible, but it posed no danger to local residents, GAZ-System's Dominiak said.
The offshore drilling platform was installed in the Baltic Sea near the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Świnoujście, northwestern Poland, close to the German border. Photo: PAP/M.Bielecki
The drilling platform used by Noble Resolve is designed to work in waters up to 100 meters deep and to drill to a depth of over 9 kilometers. The research work for the project is expected to last about 45 days.
The project aims to explore the depths of the Baltic Sea in search of natural gas deposits.
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Source: Radio Poland/PAP/iswinoujscie.pl/Noble Resolve
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