CEP Central European Petroleum, the Polish arm of Canadian-founded Central European Petroleum, has announced Poland’s largest-ever oil and gas discovery near Świnoujście, a discovery that could sharply boost output and cut heavy reliance on imports.

The discovery was made at the Wolin East 1 exploration well, just six kilometers from the Baltic coast. In a statement on Monday, the company said the broader Wolin concession could hold over 33 million tons of oil and 27 billion cubic metres of market-grade natural gas.

The deposit is “the largest conventional hydrocarbon discovery ever made in Poland and one of the largest conventional oil finds in Europe in the last decade,” said CEP CEO Rolf Skaar. In an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), he said the confirmed reserves may rival or even exceed the size of the Barnówko-Mostno-Buszewo field, previously considered Poland’s largest.

“BMB holds around 400-500 million barrels of oil, with an estimated recovery of 100 million barrels. We’re talking about a deposit of the same scale – if not larger,” he added.

Poland currently imports 95% of its crude. CEP estimates the new field could more than double national oil production and increase gas output by 20%.

CEP is working with US-based Noble Corporation on drilling operations and is now seeking both Polish and international partners to help develop the site.

“This is a huge opportunity for the national energy sector,” Dariusz Joński, MEP of the ruling Civic Coalition, wrote on X, noting the oil reserves “amount to as much as 20 times Poland’s annual production, and the gas reserves are five times that amount.”
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also welcomed the discovery, comparing it to recent national milestones, including Iga Świątek’s Wimbledon victory and the country’s latest space mission. “Apparently, God really does love our government,” he wrote on X.