Moldova's gas reserves currently amount to 100 million cubic meters, the head of the Energocom state-owned energy company, Victor Binzari, said on Tuesday
CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2023) Moldova's gas reserves currently amount to 100 million cubic meters, the head of the Energocom state-owned energy company, Victor Binzari, said on Tuesday.
"We are starting to prepare for the winter season now. We are buying gas to store it. Fortunately, prices are now in a downtrend. At the moment, we have about 100 million cubic meters in stock, in December, we consume about 170 million cubic meters, which means now the reserves are almost half of the December level. According to forecasts, in December, the gas price will be about $500-600, including transportation," Binzari said in an interview with the Vocea Basarabiei broadcaster.
He also noted that last year, the company bought about 600 million cubic meters of gas, expecting the worst-case scenario, but January turned out to be warm, which allowed to save a little bit of resources.
Moldova mainly stores purchased gas in facilities located in Ukraine and Romania.
In early June, Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said the preliminary price for Russian gas for Moldova would amount to about $568 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is $93 less than in May.
Since December, Moldova has been receiving gas from two sources - from Energocom and Russia's Gazprom. Russian gas is sent to Transnistria in exchange for electricity produced by the local power plant, while the rest of Moldova uses gas from accumulated reserves designed to contain over 200 million cubic meters.
Moldova is experiencing an acute energy crisis due to rising energy prices and soaring inflation, with gas tariffs increasing almost seven-fold in 2022 and electricity tariffs almost four-fold. The government has introduced a series of austerity measures. Against the backdrop of higher energy prices and rising inflation, anti-government protests have been taking place in the country for months.
