According to daily Rzeczpospolita, Polimex wants to get involved in some serious shale gas research projects. The company has just signed an agreement with Poland’s Military University of Technology (WAT) to establish a consortium that would cooperate on developing modern shale gas extraction technologies. The consortium hopes to obtain significant funds from the state-financed program ‘Blue Gas: the Polish Shale Gas’, which was initiated to support innovative research projects in the promising shale gas sector. The total budget of the Blue Gas program is expected to reach PLN 1bn.
Our view:
We view the news neutrally. As a state-owned company (the state ARP agency is expected to own 32.99% of new Polimex shares), Polimex is likely to be involved in projects that are vital from the state treasury’s point of view. At the moment, it is far too early to calculate the profitability of the future shale gas extraction segment. However, as long as the firm benefits from special state funds, Polimex should try to seek chances to establish its credentials in the oil & gas segment, where it has been absent so far.