Despite the challenges, continuous imports and 86 percent storage stock will provide the gas needed for heating this winter, while the next heating season has already come into focus - stated the deputy president responsible for strategic and international affairs of the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Office (MEKH) according to a statement from the office on Wednesday.

At the annual evaluation event of the Regional Energy Economic Research Center (REKK), Pál Ságvári said that the domestic market processes were fundamentally affected by the outbreak of the war and the drastic reduction of Russian pipeline gas exports to the EU.

The central problem of the 2021/22 gas year throughout Europe was the extraordinary price increase, the primary cause of which was the lack of resources resulting from the exhaustion of Russian pipeline imports. The price increase places significant financing demands on traders, and the increased costs are a huge burden for all players in the sector.

Pál Ságvári called the biggest change affecting the Hungarian market the fact that imports from Serbia started from October last year, which was accompanied by a significant drop in imports from Ukraine and then their cessation. Due to lower imports, storage facilities also played a significant role in supply last winter, but from the record low level established in the spring, by the start of the heating season, it was possible to build a reassuring amount of storage stock, which ensures winter supply.

In the industrial sector, which is more exposed to price increases, consumption in the 2021/22 gas year was around 10 percent lower, residential consumption has not changed significantly so far, he added.

Pál Ságvári also touched on the fact that several standard-setting organizations have analyzed the challenges of preparing for the winter of 2023/24, and have warned that the further increase in the import of natural gas from non-Russian sources will run into limits, so Europe must also prepare to deal with a possible partial lack of resources. - warned the deputy president of MEKH.

Source: hirado.hu

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