At its next plenary session in the coming days, the Verkhovna Rada plans to consider in the second reading a draft law that would divide underground gas fields and main gas transportation pipelines into key and nonkey ones. Gas storages and pipelines that are recognized as nonkey can be decommissioned or liquidated.
This is reported by UNN with reference to the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada meeting and draft law No. 6133.
Details
According to the draft law, it is planned to divide underground gas storage facilities into key and nonkey ones.
Key gas storage facilities are strategically important for the national economy and energy security, cannot be decommissioned (liquidated), and disruption of their operation may harm vital national interests
The list of key gas storage facilities will be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The government will also decide on the decommissioning or liquidation of non-key underground gas storage facilities. Key gas storage facilities will not include gas storage facilities that: are not used for gas injection and withdrawal as a result of a natural disaster, accident, other emergency, flooding or other geological reasons, and the resumption of its full seasonal use is impossible or economically unreasonable; have not been used for injection and withdrawal for at least the last five years; have been used for less than 10% of their design capacity over the last five years.
The draft law also plans to divide gas transmission pipelines into key and non-key pipelines, the list of which will also be established by the government. According to the draft law, non-key trunk pipelines will be those that: are not used due to unsatisfactory technical condition, restoration of its design parameters is impossible or economically unfeasible; have not been used for gas transportation in the last 5 years, or those that have been used in the last 5 years at less than 25 percent of their design capacity.
It should be noted that the concepts were slightly changed for the second reading. Initially, underground gas fields and main gas transportation pipelines were planned to be divided into critical and non-critical.
Recall
Naftogaz Group is ready to buy the entire volume of gas that Ukrainian private producers will offer to the market in 2024. The company is convinced that this is a necessary step to support all-Ukrainian production in the face of war.