The Gazprom Management Committee examined the Unified Gas Supply System (UGSS) readiness for peak loads in autumn/winter 2013-2014 and addressed steps to be taken over the long term for securing continuous gas supply to consumers during the winter period.

The meeting noted that the UGSS was generally ready for the forthcoming autumn/winter period. In the course of preparations for winter 2013-2014, all 17 scheduled maintenance and repair operations were carried out at the UGSS facilities. 1,497 kilometers of gas pipelines were overhauled, 17.3 thousand kilometers of gas pipelines underwent in-line inspection and electrometric survey of 14.8 thousand kilometers of gas pipelines was conducted during the nine months of the current year. 41 and 807 submerged crossings were repaired and inspected accordingly. 464 gas compressor units were overhauled.

Gazprom continued developing the system of underground gas storage (UGS) facilities. In particular, Kaliningrad saw in September the commissioning of Russia's twenty second UGS facility. The aggregate potential sendout of Gazprom's UGS facilities in Russia hit a record high: the maximum daily sendout by the withdrawal season start rose to 727.8 million cubic meters of gas, while the average daily sendout from December to February amounted to 579.6 million cubic meters, up 56.7 and 43.7 million cubic meters accordingly versus last year. The growth of the average daily sendout is commensurate with the average daily gas consumption during the winter period in some Russian constituent entities, for example, in the Krasnodar Territory or the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

The work is practically completed on the replenishment of UGS facilities with gas that was withdrawn during the last autumn/winter period as well as the accumulation of 69.02 billion cubic meters as the operating gas reserves of Russian UGS facilities, up 2.7 billion cubic meters versus 2012. This will be a record high amount in the history of the Russian gas industry.

Tags: Gazprom