Depogaz, the storage division of Romanian state-controlled natural gas group Romgaz (BVB: SNG), plans to invest nearly EUR 500 million in the coming years to increase the capacity of existing gas warehouses by 50% and build a new warehouse, Hotnews.ro announced, quoting the company's management.

The gas extraction capacity from the deposits will also increase by 50%, which would make Romania independent during the cold season – when it still needs imports due to limited extraction capacity at low temperatures and towards the end of the winter, as of now.

Currently, there are five gas warehouses in Romania, which have a total storage capacity of 2.87 billion cubic meters. They are full beyond their normal capacity, exactly 102.7% right now. 

Romania consumes around 50 million cubic meters of gas on a normal winter day. Domestic production can reach 20-25 million cubic meters per day.

Romgaz can take out 29-30 million cubic meters from its warehouses, but this is only possible at the beginning of winter when the warehouses are full. As the reserves deplete, the volume that can be extracted also decreases. Towards the end of winter, only 20 million cubic meters per day can be extracted from the warehouses, and that's when the system becomes most vulnerable.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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