Slovakia will not face the threat of a potential natural gas crisis this Christmas, Chairman of the Board of Directors at gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) Achim Saul said during a visit to the main control centre of the transmission system operator Eustream in Nitra on Thursday, December 16.
In the case of gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine being disrupted (as they were in January 2009), the gas utility will be able to ensure the necessary volume of gas for the whole of Slovakia. Presently, SPP’s reserves hold 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas, representing about 30 percent of Slovakia's annual consumption at 6.5 bcm of gas.
“According to the law, we have to have reserves for 30 days; we hold much more,” said Saul, as quoted by the SITA newswire. Ján Horňák, head of the transport management and optimisation department at Eustream, said that “in the case of disruption of the gas supplied from Ukraine, we would use the option of reverse gas flow from the Czech Republic and Austria.” Slovakia is the biggest gas transit country in the EU. Since the gas crisis caught some countries unprepared in early 2009, Eustream has been working to improve cooperation with transit network operators in surrounding countries.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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