Gazprom eyes Hungary gas storage capacities

Russia’s Gazprom is looking into the possibility of keeping Russian gas in Hungary’s big underground reservoirs, Hungarian news agency MTI wrote citing a report by the Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta yesterday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told Reuters earlier in January that he had proposed to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak that Russia should store more gas in Hungary’s big underground reservoirs. “The more gas stored here, the better for us – economically, and regarding energy security as well,” Szijjártó said, adding that no deal had been sealed.

Gazprom has stored up to 700 million cubic meters of gas in Hungary since last year. “Although this is not a big investment project, it is a good cooperation and we will work in this direction further, Rossiyskaya Gazeta cited Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov as saying.

Speaking to the daily, head of the Russian Gas Association Sergei Chizhov termed the Hungarian offer to store Russian gas a very precious one, but said the issue was purely geopolitical in his view. But if the agreement is reached, Hungary would become the regional ally of Russia, and the Hungarian storages would put Russia to an advantage, he said.

source; bbj.hu