The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
July 7th, 2008
Reader's SurveyNEW     Endowment Fund     Book of Lists ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation
Prague Art & Antiques Prague Art Prague Antiques

Home » Archives » Business

New gas pipeline planned for ČR

RWE wants to take control of its West European deliveries

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 7th, 2007 issue

German power company RWE announced its plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion/28 billion Kč) to build a natural gas pipeline from the Czech Republic to Belgium in an effort to create a new transport route for Russian gas into Western Europe.

“We are at the beginning of the planning process, and we are open to partnerships,” RWE Chief Executive Officer Harry Roels told the AFX news agency in Essen, Germany, Feb. 5.
Representatives of RWE Transgas, the company’s Czech branch, declined comment on the company’s future plans, saying that they did not have any detailed information from company headquarters in Germany.
Nor would company spokespeople reveal when construction of the new pipeline will begin.
The report about RWE’s intent, on a route currently used by other gas companies, shocked many market analysts, including Jiří Gavor, director of energy analyst ENA.
“It’s a surprising project because it does not blaze any new route or rely on any new gas resources,” Gavor told The Prague Post. He added that one of the reasons behind RWE’s project could be an effort to increase the efficiency of the Czech pipelines that the German giant owns.
Gas pipelines running through the Czech Republic currently operate at up to roughly 80 percent of their capacity.
At the Czech borders, the gas from Russia is transported to Germany by pipelines controlled by Ruhrgas and Wintershall.
“Should RWE get its own pipeline,” Gavor explained, “it could strive to take full advantage of the Czech pipelines’ capacity.”
In late December, RWE Transgas announced that it extended a natural-gas supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom through 2035. Under the agreement, the Russian monopoly would supply 9 billion cubic meters (320 billion cubic feet) of gas per year, and nearly five times as much would flow to Western Europe. About 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas flows through the Czech pipelines per year.
Two-thirds of natural-gas imports come from Russia via Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia. The rest comes from Norway.
Supply of energy commodities from Russia via former Soviet countries has been disrupted over controversies between Russia and the other former Soviet states.
In 2006, gas supply from Russia was temporarily halted after Ukrainian officials balked at a fourfold price increase on Russia’s deliveries to the country.
Last month, a controversy between Belarus and Russia led to a two-day clampdown on the Druzhba oil pipeline.
The new pipeline could reduce the Czech Republic’s dependency on natural gas from Russia. The flow could be reversed from west to east, and Western reserves would be tapped.

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


survey banner


Other articles in Business (7/02/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Book of Lists

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.