DEPA solves natural gas crisis

Greece is having to resort to ordering an extra load of liquefied natural gas, set to arrive at the islet of Revythousa in the Gulf of Megara, west of Athens, in the early hours of Sunday, as the country faces a serious shortage. Owing to the spell of very cold weather this week, natural gas consumption registered a new all-time high on Wednesday, amounting to 20.3 million cubic meters. At the same time Turkey is withholding the quantities of the fuel that were to come to Greece from Azerbaijan in order to serve its own increased needs. While in previous days Greece had been dealing with the shortage by using additional quantities from Gazprom, the Russian energy giant has now informed the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) that it cannot transmit any extra quantities anymore due to technical problems resulting from the increased demand in Bulgaria and other Balkan states that use the same network. With existing reserves at Revythousa able to cover Greece’s needs only up to Sunday, DEPA bought a 130-million-cubic-meter load on the spot market to solve the problem.

Kathimerini