A Canadian energy company has announced that it has found significant oil reserves in the Baltic Sea, near the Polish coast, but Estonian experts say that, on a larger scale, the discoveries are relatively modest, writes ERR News.
Oil deposits in the Baltic Sea are nothing new to Estonian geologists. Kalle-Mart Suuroja said that the fossil fuel reserves off the Polish coast were discovered during a planned exploration. According to Suuroja, the chances of finding oil off the Estonian coast are slim, as the thin layer of sedimentary rocks does not create favorable conditions. He added that this is why the oil found in this region is most often not available for use, and while it is always wise to explore the seabed, it should not be done solely with the aim of finding fossil fuels.
Alvar Soesoo, a scientific advisor to the Estonian Geological Survey, however, called on the Estonian government to invest in seabed exploration. At the same time, the researcher stressed that the deposits near Poland should be treated with great caution. “Perhaps the biggest concern is that the Baltic Sea is quite a sensitive ecosystem and the deposit was found just six kilometers from the Polish shore, in waters that are not very deep — only up to ten meters. So it’s easy to begin extraction there, but I still feel it shouldn’t be developed precisely because it’s located in the sea, in the Baltic Sea.
I wouldn’t recommend drilling for oil in the Baltic at this point in time,”
said Soesoo.
Economic expert Raivo Vare believes that much more harm is currently being done in the Baltic Sea than oil extraction by Russian “shadow fleet” tankers, which can cause serious damage in the event of a leak. Vare indicated that the Polish fields will be exploited, and the only question is how soon and in what volume.
The expert also noted that the 22 tons of oil that could be extracted from the Polish field is a relatively small amount on a larger scale, which could help somewhat with the overall oil demand, but it cannot be compared to the amount extracted in the North Sea.
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