One is the stories of politicians, including Escobar, and the other is the reality that gas experts know, and that is that there is not enough liquefied natural gas on the world market. That is why Serbia does not have the possibility to get gas from a long source in the next 10 to 15 years, except for Russia, said the president of the Assembly of the Gas Association, Vojislav Vuletic.
These days, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the USA, Gabriel Escobar, called on Serbia to look for an alternative to Russian gas. Concerned, as he said, about the energy security of Serbia dependent on Russian energy sources, he recommended liquid natural gas as an alternative.
In the next 10-15 years, only Russian gas is possible
“This statement by US representative Escobar that Serbia should separate itself from Russian gas is a story for the sake of a story. Absolutely, at this moment, but not in the next 10 to 15 years, except for Russian gas, we cannot import as much as our needs. “Diversification of every commodity in relation to foreign countries is good, but we cannot make diversification at this moment, because we cannot get anything other than Russian gas,” Vuletic told Sputnik.
He reminds that the capacity of the Balkan Stream, ie the branch of the Turkish Stream through which Serbia is supplied with Russian gas, is 15 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and that at the same time we spend up to 2.5 billion per year. That means that we have quite enough gas, so there is no need to look for another solution at this moment, says our interlocutor.
There is not enough liquid gas on the world market
Vuletic also notes that we cannot get liquefied natural gas because there is not enough of it on the world market. A terminal on Krk has been built and so far one tanker with approximately 160 tons of liquefied gas has arrived. Terminals have also been built in Portugal, Lithuania and Poland, which can only get one tanker a year. That is why, he believes, Russia is currently a reliable and good partner for gas supply to both Serbia and Europe.
When asked what are the possibilities to get Azerbaijani gas or Israeli gas that will be extracted from the field in the Mediterranean, he was explicit in saying that this is how things stand now, an impossible mission.
Azerbaijan is in disarray
“We talked about the gas pipeline called Nabucco, then Nabucco News, then TAP, then TANAP, then Agri, then Tesla. These are all gas pipelines that the Americans built. TAP was built because it had a reliable source of supply from Azerbaijan. At this moment, the Azerbaijani gas is all sold out, the gas from TAP has been sold and we cannot get a single cubic meter of gas from there, “Vuletic explains.
He says that the story about Israeli gas is beautiful, reserves have been found, but it is not yet known how much they are, and that is why, in his opinion, no one can guarantee that this capacity will be used in the next 10 to 15 years.
He reminds that seven or eight years ago, there was a story that gas was found in the Black Sea on the coast of Romania, near Constanta, and where it is, he states more than Vuletic asks.
A terminal in Greece is still in the plans
Asked how things are with the planned construction of the Greek liquefied gas terminal in Alexandroupolis in the Aegean Sea, he said that it is good for it to be built and that if there is a possibility, some liquefied gas can come there that we can count on.
However, he wonders where that gas should come from.
“There is no liquefied gas on the world market. Existing production capacities are mainly focused on supplying Japan, China, South Korea and India. 80 percent of the world’s production goes to them, and the other 20 percent goes to Europe and some parts of the council. Therefore, there is no liquefied natural gas on the market in serious and sufficient quantities, “Vuletic concluded, Sputik reports.
