Gazprom Preps for Next Heating Season
Gazprom has started preparations for injecting gas into its underground storage facilities ahead of the next winter heating season in October, the Russian monopoly said late on April 15.
These preparations include preventive maintenance and repair work, inspections at facilities and bring production and transmission capacities on stream. It aims to stockpile at least 72.322bn m3 of gas ahead of October in Russia, along with 1.09bn m3 in Belarus and 0.091bn m3 in Armenia.
Gazprom did not comment on its storage plans in the rest of Europe, but it said that last winter, which was the warmest winter in recorded history in the area covered by Russia's Unified Gas Supply System, it "met all its obligations for providing domestic and foreign consumers with reliable gas supplies."
By the onset of the 2019/2020 heating season, the maximum daily withdrawal rate had reached 843.3mn m3, marking a record for the domestic industry, Gazprom said. It plans to maintain this rate during the upcoming season.
Gazprom has expanded its Russian storage capacity by 36% since 2010, and aims to raise daily withdrawal capacity to more than 1.04bn m3 by the 2030-2031 season. It plans to expand its Kaliningradskoye and Volgogradskoye facilities, and it will soon break ground on the Shatrovskoye facility. It is also designing a new site in Tatarstan.