Slovakia’s gas supplier SPP said it has signed a contract with US energy giant ExxonMobil to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG), as part of plans to strengthen Slovakia’s energy independence and diversify sources of gas supplies.
The state-owned firm did not reveal any additional information regarding the LNG supply deal.
“Through this contract, SPP is able to secure gas supplies from the south for its customers, using, in addition to the Italian infrastructure, the LNG terminal in Croatia, alongside the northern route, through a diversification contract for gas supplies from the North Sea production fields and the still-functioning transport route through Ukraine,” the firm said.
By concluding “diversification contracts”, SPP said it can currently cover more than 65 percent of the company’s customers’ consumption from sources other than Russian.
For the winter season, it is important to ensure a combination of sufficient storage capacities and a year-round stable gas flow.
“Thanks to consistent preparation, Slovakia is one of the most prepared countries in Europe in this area, before the upcoming winter season,” SPP claims.
In May, Slovakia’s Economy Minister Richard Sulik said that the country planned to import regasified LNG via at least four European terminals.
The landlocked country is located in Central Europe and its neighbors include Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Slovakia uses about 5 bcm of natural gas per year.
SPP said in a statement on April 29 that it would receive a cargo from Cheniere’s Corpus Christi plant at Croatia’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk.
This US LNG cargo came to Krk onboard the 162,000-cbm BW Pavilion Leeara in May. The Croatian FSRU mostly receives volumes from US terminals.
According to a recent statement, SPP imported six LNG cargoes via the Croatian FSRU up to date.