Authorities "prepared for worst-case gas scenario"

Authorities "prepared for worst-case gas scenario"

At this time, there are no announcements of reduced gas supplies, and Serbia is ready even for the worst-case scenario, which would imply a halt of supplies, the minister said.

"We have over 300 million cubic meters of gas in the Banatski Dvor underground storage facility, as well as significant quantities of heating oil in heating plants, primarily at Belgrade heating plants and in commodity reserves, which total over 70,000 tons today," Antic said.

Estimates say that maximum daily gas consumption will be up to seven million cubic metres in the coming days, he said.

At this time, a daily 4.2 million of cubic meters of gas can be drawn from Banatski Dvor, while 1.3 million of cubic metres are available from domestic sources, which totals 5.5 million of cubic meters, Antic noted.

The Ministry of Energy and the government are monitoring developments closely and are in contact with partners at Gazprom, who say that the necessary gas quantities will be provided to Serbia at access points, Antic said.

In the worst case, additional substitution could take place with some producers, which would ensure stable fuel supplies for all consumers in Serbia, the minister said.