Minsk, February 8 (Interfax) - Natural gas transit through Belarus last year amounted to 44.3 billion cubic meters (bcm), the OJSC Beltransgaz press service told Interfax.
“The volume of natural gas transported from Russia through the republic was unchanged in relation to last year and amounted to 44.3 billion cubic meters,” the press service said.
Beltransgaz supplied Belarusian consumers with 20.3 bcm of natural gas in 2012, 1.5% more than the year before. The purchase price for natural gas acquired from OJSC Gazprom in 2012 was down 37% from the previous year at $165.6 per thousand cubic meters, the press service said.
In contrast with 2011, Beltransgaz ended last year in the black.
“To ensure the reliability and stability of gas deliveries in 2012, there was 940.8 million cubic meters of gas pumped into OJSC Beltransgaz underground storage facilities,” the press service said.
Last year, the outfit’s investment policy was directed at the reconstruction and modernization of technological facilities with the aim of ensuring the reliable and safe operation of the gas-transport system.
Beltransgaz, which has been wholly owned by Gazprom since 2011, handles gas supplies and transportation in Belarus. The company operates about 7,000 km of gas pipelines with diameter of 100 to 1400 mm, and services the Belarusian section of Gazprom’s Yamal-Europe trunk pipeline, which carries about 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Beltransgaz’s system handles 15 bcm-16 bcm in transshipments annually.
Gazprom has reported that gas transshipments through Belarus rose to 44.5 bcm in 2012, from 44.3 bcm in 2011 and 43.2 bcm in 2010. The figure could increase to 60 bcm in 2013, according to materials published in June 2012 for Gazprom’s shareholder meeting. Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov said at the end of last year that Gazprom plans to increase gas transit through Belarus by 30% over the next five years.
