3Legs sells its last Polish shale gas concessions

WARSAW, Nov 5 (Reuters) - British energy company 3Legs Resources sold its last shale gas concessions in Poland to Sweden's Stena Group, the firm said on Wednesday, making it the latest in a series of foreign investors to back out of Polish shale gas.

The firm follows Total, Marathon Oil, Talisman Energy (Toronto: TLM.TO - news) and Exxon Mobil in pulling out of Polish shale gas, which has failed to live up to its initial promise.

Earlier this year, 3Legs already backed out of its three shale gas concessions in northern Poland, after test drilling did not yield satisfactory results.

It said the last three permits, in the eastern part of the onshore Baltic Basin, would be sold to a unit of Stena Group for 0.5 million euros ($625,400). Stena Group's businesses include ferry routes, shipping, and offshore drilling.

Poland launched a major push into shale gas three years ago, aiming to wean itself off Russian gas supplies.

But in 2012 a government report cut Poland's estimated shale gas reserves by about 90 percent. Challenging geological conditions as well as legal uncertainty have also undercut investor interest.

Chevron and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP - news) are still operating in Polish shale gas, along with a number of independents and Polish energy firms. (1 US dollar = 0.7995 euro) (1 US dollar = 0.6269 British pound) (Reporting by Anna Koper and Adrian Krajewski, editing by Louise Heavens)