Letter on Poland: Flipping the energy narrative
The Wolin East-1 discovery is the country’s largest conventional hydrocarbon discovery and could change the energy conversation for the EU’s coal outlier.
Poland is the EU’s most coal-dependent country and the only member state without a coal phase-out date. Coal makes up more than half of the country’s energy mix, while oil and gas is just a sliver of the total, at around 10%. But the huge hydrocarbon discovery by Central European Petroleum may alter this reality. CEP announced that the Wolin East-1 well has encountered a 62m hydrocarbon column in the Main Dolomite reservoir, confirming 200m boe of recoverable resource. There is potential for over 400m boe in total recoverable resources across the licence, making this is Poland’s largest conventional oil and gas discovery. While this discovery won’t herald a return to past glories, it
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution






