Nafta plans gas extraction

SLOVAKIA depends almost 100 percent on imports of natural gas, but this does not mean that the country has no deposits of this raw material. 

(Source: Sme)

Nafta, a company active in natural gas storage and in exploration and production of hydrocarbons, plans to open new wells in eastern Slovakia.

The local production of gas makes up about 2 percent of Slovakia’s annual gas consumption, standing at about 5 billion cubic metres. Nafta assumes that during the coming years the annual production of gas in Slovakia will be below 100 million cubic metres, the venergetike.sk website devoted to the energy sector reported.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

“With regards to the verified geological deposits of crude oil and natural gas it is impossible to expect a significant increase in volumes of domestic extraction and it will be necessary to further secure these commodities by imports,” the company wrote in its investment plan as cited by the website.

SkryťTurn off ads

As of 2016 Nafta wants to start extracting gas close to the village of Moravany pri Michalovciach, in the village of Krasnovce and close to the village of Zemplínska Široká. These will comprise the second trio of deposits in eastern Slovakia in which Nafta is preparing extraction.

Nafta already plans extraction of gas in deposits close to the villages of Lastomír, Žbince and Palín.

Gas volumes in deposits in Moravany pri Michalovciach, Krasnovce and Zemplínska Široká rank from 29 million cubic metres to 48 million cubic metres, while not all the gas can be extracted. In total Nafta wants to extract up to 40,000 cubic metres of gas from these deposits daily.

Regarding Lastomír, Žbince and Palín, the latter is the richest deposit with 45.5 million cubic metres, while Lastomír is the smallest with 20 million cubic metres.

SkryťTurn off ads

Extraction of gas in eastern Slovakia began sometime in the 1960s, while gas was extracted in western Slovakia along with crude oil already before 1950.

Nafta produced 87 million cubic metres of natural gas in 2014. Throughout the history of gas extraction in Slovakia a total exceeding 26 billion cubic metres of natural gas has been extracted here. The peak was in 1959 when 1.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas were extracted. Depleted fields in western Slovakia were turned into underground gas storage facilities, Nafta’s website writes. 

Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad