Poland may tax shale gas in 2015, official says

WARSAW Feb 22 (Reuters) - Poland may tax shale gas production as of 2015, an official said on Wednesday, as the country hopes future extraction of the commodity would generate fresh state budget revenues on top of boosting its energy security.

Poland granted more than 100 exploration permits, issuing them to global majors such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil , after a U.S. agency estimated the country could have Europe's largest shale gas reserves of some 5.3 trillion cubic metres.

Though that has not been confirmed yet, Warsaw is already drafting legislation applicable should the shale drive move into a production phase.

"Commercial extraction may be possible as of 2015, so we can preliminarily target that date as one when the tax could start functioning," Deputy Finance Minister Maciej Grabowski told a conference.

"The goal is to provide a predictable environment for investors," he added.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government has high hopes for shale gas to help Poland lower its reliance on the highly-polluting coal as well as on Russian gas, thereby improving the security of its energy supplies and improving its energy mix.

Tusk wants shale gas to flow as early as 2014 and his centrist cabinet has recently obliged several state-owned companies to make shale gas investment a key priority.

Poland's gas monopoly PGNiG said in January it would work with the country's largest copper miner KGHM and two top utilities PGE and Tauron , all state-owned, exploring for shale gas.

Separately, Exxon also said last month its two shale wells in Poland had not found commercial quantities of gas, prompting Gazprom Europe's largest gas supplier, to say European shale was an "illusion".