Poland signs 20-year liquefied natural gas deal with US

19 Dec 2018; DW: Poland is seeking to reduce its dependence on Russia and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for its LNG supplies. The deal should provide for 15 percent of Poland's daily gas needs over the next 20 years.

The deal announced on Wednesday between Poland's state gas company PGNiG and Port Arthur LNG, part of Sempra Energy, is just one of several the EU state has signed with US gas suppliers in recent weeks.

The agreement is for the supply of  2.7 billion cubic meters (95.3 billion cubic feet)
per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Poland over a 20-year period. LNG is gas super-chilled to liquid form for shipment by sea.

The deal comes as both the US and Poland seek to limit the dominance of Russia's Gazprom Nord Stream 2 pipeline supplying gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine's pipeline system.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz met with US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan in Warsaw on Wednesday and described Germany's support for Nord Stream 2 as "anti-European." He said the project was "harmful to the security of all of the European Union."

Czaputowicz also criticized Austria for failing to allow EU discussion of Nord Stream 2 during the Vienna government's six-month presidency.