SLOVAKIA is now able to draw natural gas from Austria after the OMW firm completed a reverse-flow project at its gas hub in Baumgarten, an investment which cost about €4 million, the SITA newswire reported.
Half the funds were provided by the European Commission and the Austrian firm covered the remainder. The project will foster Slovakia’s energy security and its citizens can feel much more secure than in the past, Slovak Foreign Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda told a news conference on October 24.
Economy Minister Juraj Miškov stated that the Slovak government had done its utmost to secure the country’s future energy supplies.
According to a report on energy supplies prepared by the Economy Ministry, Slovakia will be well-prepared for any potential gas crisis this winter, SITA wrote. The report maintains that the country will have sufficient reserves of natural gas along with contracted auxiliary supplies of gas from November 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, stating that the country is thus better prepared for any disruption of gas shipments from Russia via Ukraine. In January 2009, Russia cut off gas supplies for more than week, disrupting industry.
The report also states that in the event of a gas crisis Slovakia can also rely on auxiliary supplies of gas because contracts were signed between the Slovak gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel and energy companies E.ON Ruhrgas and GDF Suez under which approximately three million cubic metres of additional natural gas can be provided to the Slovak market each day.
