Natural gas extraction in Slovakia. (source: Courtesy of Nafta)
The partly state-owned company Nafta, together with the Canadian company Vermilion Slovakia Exploration, is planning exploratory wells in Malženice near Trnava. The companies predict that Slovakia will eventually be able to increase the volume of domestic gas extraction to 10 percent of annual consumption, i.e. to approximately 500 million cubic metres of gas per year.
“This is a significant share,” Martin Babulic, a spokesperson for Nafta who focuses on the extraction and storage of natural gas, told The Slovak Spectator.
The project has local support, but exploratory drilling near Trnava has been blocked for years by the civic association We Want a Healthy Country (Chceme Zdravú Krajinu), headed by Michal Daniška. Activists argue that gas extraction would be unecological and unnecessary, the Sme daily reported.
Nafta argues that gas extracted in Slovakia is the most environmentally friendly – meeting strict legislative standards, and with the smallest climate footprint compared to transporting gas over long distances through pipelines or via LNG tankers, a route which is even less energy efficient. All gas extracted in Slovakia is consumed within the country, Babulic noted.
“Considering geopolitical and security risks, it should be Slovakia’s primary interest to utilise domestic sources of mineral resources that are not threatened by potential supply interruptions,” said Babulic.
Natural gas deposits in Slovakia (source: Courtesy of Nafta )
