Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 33 2021

FSUOGM
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
FSUOGM
maintenance, Evgeny Udovenko, said that because the company had brought forward work originally slated for both later this year and next, it now intended to skip any major maintenance work next year.
He added that this would allow Sakhalin Energy to reduce its operational expendi- ture, plan future activities more efficiently and transition the entire integrated gas chain to a four-year maintenance cycle
going forward. The executive added that this approach meant each train would be shut down once every two years.
When the company announced the planned turnaround programme last month, it said this year’s LNG and oil shipment schedule were aligned with the work. However, Reuters quoted two unnamed Singapore-based traders as saying that up to five LNG cargoes had been delayed from the plant.™
Naftogaz seeks to build 19 bcm gas stockpile
UKRAINE
UKRAINIAN state-owned gas company Nafto- gaz said in a press release on August 18 it plans to have 19 bcm of gas in storage before the winter heating season starts in the coming months.
After a long winter and a hot summer, com- bined with storage problems, gas prices are hit- ting record highs, while gas storage levels are at multi-year lows. On August 2, Naftogaz said that it already had the legal minimum requirement of gas in storage for winter, but the levels are unusu- ally low for this time of year.
Ukraine entered the winter heating season last October with gas reserves at 28.4 bcm, well up on previous years, due to strong injections by private traders looking for storage options after European storages were quickly filled.
Crossing the 19 bcm mark before the upcom- ing heating period starts is an essential condition for the company to be able to provide a stable supply this winter, Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said during a recent business visit to Lviv Region.
“It is the government’s estimate that at the start of the next heating season we must have gas reserves of 17 bcm in underground storage facilities. We are now approaching the level of 18 bcm. However, in order to make sure that this heating season runs smoothly and without inter- ruptions,wewanttopumpinevenmoregas”,the Naftogaz CEO said while visiting Bilche-Volyt- sko-Uherske UGS.
Vitrenko emphasised that the Bilche-Volyt- sko-Uherske gas storage facility is Europe’s larg- est and the world’s fifth largest underground gas storage facility with a capacity of 17 bcm, which makes it the most critical for the uninterrupted heating season.
“We are happy with the preparation pro- gress – we can now see that everything works as necessary. This is why we look with confi- dence towards the future, knowing that the country will smoothly go through the heating season, and Ukrainians will have enough gas,” Vitrenko assured.
According to Vitrenko, additional gas vol- umes that have been planned for the season are necessary only to make sure there will be no gas shortages during the winter season, even where there is a potential additional con- sumption by thermal power plants that usually face the problem of insufficient coal supplies in storage facilities.
“Looking back at the previous years, except maybe the last one that was excep- tional, you will see that we used to start the heating season with 16 bcm in underground storage. Today, we already have much more but we still want to reach over 19 bcm. With this secured, we will know that we can give a helping hand to power generation facilities, should they need gas for electric power gen- eration”, added Vitrenko.™
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