Polish government will pass a bill on regulating extraction and taxation shale gas and other hydrocarbons on Tuesday, October 16, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"Assumptions are ready," Tusk said of the bill. "At the government’s sitting in one week we will approve this project."

The draft law has been long-awaited by investors interested in exploring Poland’s shale gas reserves, like American Chevron, and Marathon Oil, or such Polish companies as PGNiG and PKN Orlen, which hold shale gas exploration licenses.

The bill aims at establishing such terms so as not to "discourage investors from this important costly venture," while retaining state control over the process and redistribution of the benefits of shale gas extraction, Tusk said.

Poland, which has granted 111 shale gas exploration licenses since 2007, has postponed the publication of a legal framework for the development of shale gas resources several times in the past few months.

According to the Polish Geological Institute Poland's shale-gas and conventional reserves together could cover up to 65 years of the country's demand for natural gas, making it less dependent on natural gas imports from Russia.