Record offtake from Russian gas storage in 2020/21 exposed bottlenecks in supply system that are being eliminated - Gazprom

MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) - Record offtake from underground gas storage facilities (UGSF) in Russia in the 2020/21 season exposed bottlenecks in the Unified Gas Supply System (UGSS), Gazprom's head of underground gas storage, Sergei Khan said.

"Offtake is always planned for the created operating reserve, so nothing critical happened in this season, there was the usual normal work. Nonetheless, the need to replace such significant offtake in the summer period exposed a number of bottlenecks in the UGSS that Gazprom is working on eliminating on a priority basis," Khan said in an interview with the Gas Industry magazine.

Gas offtake totaled 60.6 billion cubic meters in the 2020/21 fall and winter season. Maximum productivity was reached after the offtake of more than 40% of the operating reserve.

As the accumulated gas offtake from UGSF increased, the daily productivity of storage facilities decreased accordingly and the growing gas demand of Russian regions needed to be met, it was possible to use UGSF compressor stations for gas offtake, Khan said in an article with co-authors from Gazprom UGSF on the importance of booster pumps or compressor offtake in ensuring peak productivity.