Poland's state-run gas distributor PGNiG is looking at various options in oil and gas exploration and production in Iran once sanctions on the country are lifted, PGNiG's CEO said.
"We are interested in the Iranian market (...) and we are considering various business configurations there. We have an office in Iran and are at the stage of examining that market," Mariusz Zawisza said in an interview.
He reiterated that PGNiG was considering buying production assets in Norway, the United States and Canada that would help it boost own oil and gas output.
Zawisza said the 100 million euros that PGNiG paid France's Total for stakes in several Norwegian oilfields last year could be a reference point for future acquisitions.
PGNiG, which is also interested in buying heating power plants in Poland, sees 2016 investment as "comparable" to this year's, the CEO said. Earlier this year PGNiG expected 2015 capex at around 4.3 billion zlotys ($1.08 billion).
The CEO said talks with Russia's Gazprom, which is PGNiG's biggest gas supplier, on reducing prices in its long-term contract had reached a "mature" phase.
The companies started negotiations in November last year and in May PGNiG filed with the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal, looking to change the pricing of the contract in the face of falling oil and gas prices.
I assume that there is a real possibility of concluding the talks with Gazprom. Last time the negotiations also lasted several months. Now it has been a year since we started the talks and this is their mature phase," Zawisza said.
"The oil price, among other things, works in our favor."
PGNiG is tied to a contract with Gazprom under which it buys up to 10.2 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas annually, compared to almost 16 bcm of total gas consumption in Poland.
To reduce the reliance on Russia's gas supplies, Poland is building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Baltic Sea and expanding cross-border links.
"In a few years time, Poland could become completely independent from gas supplies from Russia," Zawisza said.
Last year Russia reduced gas supplies to Poland, which allowed PGNiG to increase deliveries from elsewhere and lower import costs. The lower gas purchase costs were behind PGNiG's move this month to increase 2015 EBITDA target by 8.6 percent to 6.3 billion zlotys ($1.58 billion).
"Our EBITDA forecast for 2015 at 6.3 billion zlotys is conservative, especially because of the market environment," Zawisza said, citing a weakening of the zloty against the dollar, low oil prices and strong competition.