Polish state energy company PGNiG said Thursday its natural gas sales increased roughly 6% year-on-year in 2019, despite mild temperatures in the winter months, Kallanish Energy reports.

The company said in its annual results that it sold 30.70 billion cubic meter of natural gas. However, it also pointed out that the oversupply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is choking prices, and negatively impacting its overall revenues, which dropped 2% y-o-y.

“The oversupply of LNG continued to suppress gas prices on global markets. The average annual price of gas traded on the Polish Power Exchange was 35% lower compared with the previous year, which had a significant impact on revenue from gas sales,” said CEO Jerzy Kwieciński.

“All participants of the global gas market are currently facing the challenge of low prices. We should bear in mind, though, that demand for gas has been growing at a significant rate,” he added.

The Polish company is weaning itself off Russian gas imports and has said it would not renew a long-term contract once it expires. Instead, it has been increasing purchases of LNG on spot, medium- and long-term deals from different suppliers.

Last year, PGNiG’s LNG imports rose 27%. The firm received 3.43 Bcm of the supercooled fuel in 31 cargoes last year, compared to 2.71 Bcm and 23 cargoes in 2018.

Pipeline imports from Russia were down 7%, accounting for 60% of the company’s total gas imports.

This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.