18/10/2017

Press release: UGS strategy: pursuing higher reliability and flexibility of gas supplies

The Gazprom Board of Directors approved the ongoing efforts pursued by the Company for developing the underground gas storage (UGS) capacities in Russia and abroad. 

Gazprom’s active and planned UGS facilities in Russia

Gazprom’s active and planned UGS facilities in Russia

It was noted that the UGS capacities owned by the Gazprom Group in Russia and abroad helped ensure the reliability of gas supplies to consumers, especially during winter peak demand periods.

In Russia, Gazprom operates a network of 22 UGS facilities with the working gas inventories of above 72 billion cubic meters and the potential maximum daily deliverability of 805.3 million cubic meters by the start of the 2017/2018 withdrawal season. Such a high level of UGS development makes it possible to secure about a third of Gazprom’s daily gas deliveries in the autumn-winter period.

 

The Company’s priorities in developing the domestic UGS sector are to optimize the operation of gas storage and production facilities, improve the efficiency and flexibility of the UGS network and ensure its further expansion. To this end, Gazprom is active in creating peak shaving UGS facilities with high deliverability rates and a relatively small gas storage volume. The efforts in this area include expanding the Kaliningradskoye, building the Volgogradskoye and designing the Novomoskovskoye UGS facilities.

Gazprom conducts geological exploration to build UGS facilities in the Russian regions with insufficient or no gas storage capacities. For instance, geological exploration is underway along the gas pipeline route from Ukhta to Torzhok and also in the direction of Arkhangelsk in the Northwestern Federal District, in the direction from Omsk to Tomsk in the Siberian Federal District and along the Power of Siberia gas pipeline’s route in the Far Eastern Federal District.

In order to increase the flexibility of export supplies, Gazprom strives to raise the working gas capacity of its UGS facilities abroad to at least 5 per cent of the Company’s annual exports.

At present, the Gazprom Group uses capacities in the following UGS facilities: Haidach (Austria), Rehden, Katharina, Jemgum and Etzel (Germany), Bergermeer (Netherlands), Banatski Dvor (Serbia), and Damborice (Czech Republic). Moreover, additional storage capacities are leased by the Group in Europe with a view to enhance the reliability of supply to European consumers during this autumn-winter period.

Given the growing exports of Russian gas to European countries and the expected start of pipeline gas deliveries to China in 2019, the Company is engaged in developing the existing and creating new gas storage capacities abroad. In this respect, the work is underway to expand the Banatski Dvor UGS facility in Serbia and to study the possibility of creating underground storage facilities in China.

In the CIS, Gazprom intends to gradually increase the daily deliverability of its UGS facilities in Armenia and Belarus. An Action Plan has been prepared by Gazprom and Uzbekneftegaz for cooperation on UGS development in Uzbekistan.

The Management Committee was instructed to proceed with developing the UGS capacities in Russia and abroad.


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