ČEZ has extended cooperation with SONATRACH company, and will continue to import gas from Algeria
The Czech Republic will continue to use the gas which travels from Algeria via Tunisia, then via an undersea pipeline to Italy and on to Europe. After a year of successful cooperation, ČEZ has extended its contract with the Algerian supplier SONATRACH for gas supplies which can cover more than two percent of annual Czech gas consumption. Diversification of gas supplies also strengthens the Czech Republic's energy security.
"I am pleased that we have been able to efficiently find new sources of gas across the continents. The cooperation with the state-owned Algerian company SONATRACH has proved to be a success and we will continue in it. The more trade routes we have for the supply of this fundamental commodity, the less we will be affected by possible shortages elsewhere. At ČEZ, we are continuing to work on strengthening our overall energy security. Another example is this year’s success of our specialists, who for the first time oversaw the entire voyage of an LNG tanker from America to a Dutch terminal,” said Pavel Cyrani, Vice-Chairman of the ČEZ Board of Directors.
The contract with the Algerian state-owned company SONATRACH helps ČEZ secure an additional route that will enable gas supplies to the country in the event of shortages on the domestic market, while also broadening the geographical spectrum of potential suppliers. Supplies from Algeria started in the autumn of last year and can cover roughly two per cent of the Czech Republic's annual gas consumption, equivalent to the consumption of approximately 100,000 households.
The contract extension with Algeria comes shortly after the third anniversary of the Eemshaven LNG terminal, where the Czech Republic secured its first ever contracted LNG import capacity. The facility in the Netherlands is capable of processing eight billion cubic meters of gas per year, three billion of which are reserved for the Czech Republic. This volume represents almost half of the country's annual consumption. In the three years of its operation, the terminal has received 64 ships carrying the equivalent of 5.8 billion cubic metres of gas destined for the Czech Republic. In addition to ČEZ, the terminal is also used by the multinational companies Shell and Engie. No Russian gas has been transported to the terminal since it started operation, which was one of the explicit conditions of the tender. ČEZ has also contracted long-term capacity at the onshore Stade terminals under construction in Germany.