Bajatovic: Expansion of Banatski Dvor Storage Facility to Neighboring Field Cestereg Planned

In order for the gas from Azerbaijan to reach Belgrade by the Dimitrovgrad-Nis gas pipeline, a new gas pipeline of a greater capacity, or even the construction of two pipelines, one that would go to Nis and the other from Nis to Belgrade, is needed. With that, as Dusan Bajatovic, the CEO of Srbijagas, emphasized at the Kopaonik Business Forum, the export from Azerbaijan directly depends on the import of gas from Russia, and if we also want to count on liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Greek port of Alexandroupolis, we need to expand the capacity of the Nis-Belgrade gas pipeline.

After more than a decade of waiting, the EU secured a half of the funds for the first section from Bulgaria to Serbia and the construction started on February 1, 2022. The job should be completed by the end of this year. It remains to be seen how the route from Nis to Belgrade is to be financed.

– The plan is for Banatski Dvor, the only domestic gas storage facility to be expanded to the neighboring field Cestereg. It is a gas field that is close to the end of its exploitation, so it is a candidate for gas storage. Cestereg and the expanded Banatski Dvor could store 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas. The plan for the construction of Srpski Itebej, 30 kilometers away from Banatski Dvor, remains – Bajatovic said for the Politika daily.

He added that Serbia would have an interconnector from the biggest European gas storage facility Baumgarten in Austria through the Hungarian transport system to the Revithoussa terminal to Alexandroupolis and access to the gas pipeline TAP and TANAP by using the trans-Balkans pipeline that once used to connect Ukraine, Bulgaria and Greece.

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

Svetska Banka-WB Beograd

Srbijagas

World Bank

Dušan Bajatović

gas pipeline Dimitrovgrad Niš

export of gas from Azerbaijan

import of gas from Russia

expansion of Banatski dvor

TurkStream