Page 11 - GLNG Week 22 2022

GLNG EUROPE GLNG

Croatia mulls further expanding

capacity of Krk LNG terminal

TERMINALS CROATIA’S Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic Plenkovic said that this would be enough to
said that the government might decide to further meet the needs of Croatia, which annually con-
increase the capacity of its floating LNG (FLNG) sumes 2.9 bcm, and of its neighbours – Slovenia,
terminal off the island of Krk to 3.5bn cubic Bosnia & Herzegovina and Hungary.
metres from 2.9 bcm amid the EU’s decision to The Croatian government is taking steps to
stop buying gas from Russia. increase its energy production capacity. Earlier
The capacity of the terminal was already in March, Economy and Sustainable Develop-
expanded from 2.6 bcm after the start of Russian ment Minister Tomislav Coric said that Croatia
war in Ukraine. intends to increase its gas production with six
There are plans to invest in upgrade of the ter- new wells. He added that the total domestic pro-
minal, Plenkovic said as quoted in a statement. duction this year is predicted to exceed 1 bcm,
He added that, if needed, the capacity can be fur- which meets 40% of domestic demand.™
ther raised to 6.1 bcm.
Slovakia signs new contacts

on gas supplies to reduce its

dependence on Russia

SUPPLY SLOVAKIA has signed new contracts for the the moment. We’re working on other alternatives
purchase of natural gas, which will reduce its as well, but these are ever more demanding. At
dependence on supplies from Russia by about the same time, we’re also buying gas from Rus-
two-thirds by the end of 2023, said Economy sia in full,” stressed Sulik, according to the news
Minister Richard Sulik. agency.
“From June 1, we will have reduced our As reported by the news agency, the volume
dependence on Russian gas by 65%. However, of gas currently flowing into the country exceeds
we will continue to buy Russian gas in order to consumption by 2mn cubic metres. In June, the
fill our reserves as much as possible. We do not minister expects an increase in gas flowing daily
buy gas more expensive than that from Russia,” into Slovakia to 9 mcm. “If it goes on like this,
Sulik said, as quoted by the Czech News Agency. SPP will have all the gas that Slovakia needs for
By July 10, Slovakia will have enough gas in the whole of next winter available in its storage
storage to cover consumption until the end of capacities in the country on July 10,” added Sulik.
next winter, Sulik noted, adding that the country Slovakia’s annual gas consumption stands at
has secured gas supplies until the end of 2023. about 5.5bn cubic metres, while 85% is covered
Its largest supplier of gas, the state-controlled gas by Russian gas. SPP supplies almost 70% of gas
company SPP, purchased volumes of Norwegian customers in the country.
equal to 32% of its annual consumption. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger added
“SPP on Thursday [May 26] signed a contract that Slovakia’s energy security is about to be
for supplies of Norwegian gas until the end of bolstered by a pipeline connecting Poland to
next year, covering 32% of consumption, and, Slovakia, which forms part of projects financed
at the same time, it signed a contract for LNG by an EU grant worth €54mn. The new Slo-
supplies [which will cover another 34% of con- vak-Polish pipeline is already filled with gas and
sumption]” said Sulik, adding that the country will undergo pressure tests, followed by trial
has secured pumping of LNG supply from three operation.
to four places in Europe. “It will ensure our security in terms of gas
SPP has arranged gas supplies via Croatia, supplies and also give us access to LNG gas from
Belgium, Italy and the UK that will allow it to Polish harbours. In addition, we can link up
have two LNG tanker-loads of gas pumped into to Norwegian gas via this pipeline,” Heger was
pipelines every month. quoted by the news agency as saying.™
“This is the maximum that can be achieved at

Week 22 03•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11