I hope not to use Plan B :: Dienas Bizness

Currently, everything possible is being done so that gas will be available to all users in the coming winter and no administrative restrictions on consumption will be necessary, notes Uldis Bariss, chairman of the board of AS Conexus Baltic Grid (Conexus).

If the supply of natural gas is interrupted, crisis management takes place in accordance with the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, which stipulates that secured users, including households, the public sector and heating companies, are primarily supplied with gas, explains U. Bariss. He does not deny that in a crisis situation, some industrialists and producers would have to put up with a reduction in natural gas consumption, but this is only plan B.

From today’s point of view, the upcoming heating season should not create such a bad situation that the gas supply to one of the consumer groups should be significantly limited, says the chairman of the Conexus board, noting that currently the primary work is being done on plan A, which provides for providing the necessary gas to all users. If the filling of the Inčukalns underground gas storage (PGK) continues at the same pace, and if Finland can partly ensure its consumption in the second half of the winter using the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, a very critical situation should not arise in this heating season, U. Bariss thinks.

Excerpt from the interview

Currently, there is great uncertainty in the region regarding gas supplies from Russia in autumn and winter, the situation is not improved by the recent announcement of the Russian gas concern Gazprom about the cessation of gas exports to Latvia. How could this factor affect gas stockpiling?

Let’s start with the fact that, when evaluating security of supply scenarios, we did not include possible natural gas supplies from Russia in our calculations this season. We understand that we cannot reliably rely on this source, so we must ensure that gas is supplied from sources that we control. For this reason, this storage injection season our region has focused on supplies from the Klaipeda LNG terminal, and we also very much hope that the Finnish and Estonian floating LNG terminal will start operating in the fall.

Despite this, I understand that some amount of natural gas, which has been stored in the Inchukalnas underground gas storage (PGK), also came from Russia.

True, but these volumes are very small. In April and May there were no deliveries, but in June and July this volume reached about 25-30%. It should be noted that we cannot say whether the merchants who buy gas from Russia store it in storage or use it for direct consumption. We can see how much gas enters the single market area, but it is not possible to track how this gas is further used. After all, we all share the same pot.

Read the whole article August 9 in Dienas Bizness magazine!

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