natural gas

Hungarian FM: TürkStream deliveries resume after maintenance

Pipeline oil sanctions

Deliveries have resumed over the TürkStream pipeline after successful annual maintenance, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in St Petersburg on Thursday, adding that Hungary’s winter reserves are being filled according to plan.

The Russian provider restarted deliveries earlier this week, and the volume is now up to normal levels, Péter Szijjártó said. Hungary’s reserves already cover 37 percent of the country’s annual consumption, against a European average of 21 percent, he said. “No matter how hard the winter will be, curbing gas consumption is out of the question,” he added.

“It is time everyone understood that energy supply is not an ideological or political issue but of rock-hard reality,” he said.

Should it be cut off from Russian resources, Hungary would be unable to satisfy its energy needs, “and so a pragmatic energy cooperation with Russia remains in our interest,” he said. The European Union’s sanctions also allow such cooperation, he added.

Szijjártó is attending the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he is slated to meet Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev.

The Hungarian state does not want to give up Russian oil – here is why

MOL Hungary pipeline oil refinery bulgaria ukraine

There has been heated debate in the European Union about Hungary’s insistence to keep Russian oil coming to the country ever since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Orbán cabinet constantly tells the public that the reason is protecting Hungarian families, suggesting that without Russian oil, there would not be enough resources in the country. But is that really the truth?

According to experts asked by Index, the Hungarian government collects an excess profit tax on the margin between Russian oil and Brent oil. Thus, diversification is not important for the cabinet, as it would lose out on a lot of money. On top of that, it is also inconvenient and expensive for MOL, Hungary’s main oil and gas company, to change a “well-established strategy”.

The Czech Republic made up its mind

At the same time, while the Czech Republic is in the same exact situation geopolitically as well as regarding the country’s energy sector and energy demand as Hungary, Czechia has already taken determined steps to detach itself from Russian oil.

The Czech state-owned company Mero announced at the end of May that more than a year after the war, it was finally possible for them to divest from Russian oil. Mero is financing the expansion of the Transalpine oil pipeline, which will transport oil from the port of Trieste in Italy to central Europe, with USD 73 million. This will double the capacity of the pipeline from 2025, Index explains. Like Hungary, Czechia had also been supplied via the Druzhba pipeline: however, the EU member state has already let go of Russian gas.

Szijjártó: We want to diversify but we do not want to replace Russian gas

In a brief interview with the Russian portal Interfax, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said that there are no plans to replace Russian gas. Meanwhile, a day earlier, he announced that 100 million cubic meters of natural gas will arrive in Hungary from Azerbaijan, Index reports.

On 2 June, Szijjártó announced on his Facebook page that Hungary’s MVM CEEnergy and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR had signed an agreement under which 100 million cubic metres of natural gas will arrive in Hungary from Azerbaijan by the end of the year. In contrast, he told a Russian newspaper, Interfax, that Hungary does not want to stop importing Russian gas, but wants to diversify gas imports.

“We will not replace Russian supplies – neither oil nor gas. Russia is our reliable partner: Gazprom and oil producers alike. Another issue is diversification. But from our point of view, this does not mean that we want to replace one source with another. Diversification for us means that we are looking for other sources, but not with the aim of replacing Russian sources,” Szijjártó said.

Hungarian opposition to file lawsuit demanding Russian gas contract details

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

The opposition Democratic Coalition will file a lawsuit with a view to revealing precisely how much Hungary “pays Russia for Europe’s most expensive gas”, the party’s deputy leader and MEP said on Tuesday.

Csaba Molnár, MEP from the Democratic Coalition told an online press conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “cheated” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when he told a joint press conference in Moscow that Hungarians were getting Russian gas for one-fifth of the market price. Molnar added that since the government’s “seven-fold utility fee increase, we know that this is a lie” because, he insisted, Hungarians were paying the steepest price for gas in the whole of the EU.

Molnár said that at the same time it was still unknown exactly how much the government paid and the level of interest for charged for gas sold to Hungarian consumers, he said. When the party demanded data of public interest from the Hungarian energy company MVM and the Hungarian Hydrocarbon Stockpiling Association, one of them refused to make the data available and the other redacted the most important details, including the price of gas, he added.

Hungary fully supports Moldova’s EU integration

Szijjártó Moldova

 The Hungarian governmet will provide “every assistance” to Moldova’s endeavours to join the European Union, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Chisinau on Wednesday.

Following talks with his Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu, Szijjártó highligthed the geopolitical appreciation of the Eastern Partnership programme, and urged the earliest enlargement of the EU as well as promoting closer ties with countries in the region.

The foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as noting the “strong positions” of Hungarian retail bank OTP and pharma Richter in Moldova’s markets, adding that bilateral trade had posted a record 200 million euros last year.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó regretted that WizzAir had temporarily suspended its operations in Moldova, and said he hoped services would be resumed “once security quarantees are in place”. The governments of Hungary and Moldova are both interested in having a direct flight between their capitals and “would like to convince WizzAir to return as soon as possible,” he said.

Szijjártó also said the Hungarian government supported a roaming-fee agreement between the EU and Moldova, which would “also strengthen connections”.

On another subject, Szijjártó said NATO members would not be reimbursed for earlier contributions aimed to finance the Afghan military, and expressed the Hungarian government’s wish to use some of the funds, HUF 120 million (EUR 322,000), to strengthen the security of Moldova. He said Moldova was situated “on the eastern border of the European Political Community, therefore we are mutually interested in each other’s security.”

Earlier in the day, Szijjártó met Prime Minister Dorin Recean, Economic Development Minister Dumitru Alaiba, Sergiu Prodan, the minister of culture.

On Hungary’s energy diversification, Szijjártó said the start of gas deliveries from Azerbaijan, slated for later this year, would be an important step. The political agreement has been signed already, and trade talks have also been successful, he said. Hungary expects to receive 100 million cubic meters of gas this year already, he said.

At the same time, development of south-eastern European infrastructure is key to the success of the project, he said. Current capacities would not be enough to make a difference in energy diversification, he added.

“This is a task for the European Union. [South-east European countries] are right to expect the EU to fund developments to increase gas delivery capacities,” he said.

Chisinau hosts a meeting of the European Political Community on June 1, which is expected to bring a “decision on developing transport and energy ties between the EU and its border territories,” he said.

“We find it unacceptable that the EU rejects funding natural gas infrastructure, and see gas as an important pillar of energy security at present and in the coming years,” he said. Gas from Azerbaijan is a key alternative for Hungary and Moldova too, he said.

Brussels: Hungarian MOL may acquire Slovenian oil company

MOL fuel station Hungary oil

The European Commission approved Hungarian oil and gas company MOL’s acquisition of Slovenian peer OMV Slovenija on Wednesday.

Austria’s OMV had agreed to sell MOL its Slovenian unit, including 120 petrol stations and a wholesale business, in June 2021, MTI reports.

The EC aired concerns over the deal, in its initial form, as it would reduce the number of significant retail motor fuel operators in Slovenia from three to two and significantly reduce competition in the market for retail motor fuel sales from non-motorway fuel stations.

In March 2023, MOL said it agreed to part with 39 of its petrol stations in Slovenia to win EC approval of the deal.

On Wednesday, the EC said commitments, including the divestment of the 39 petrol stations to Shell Group, “fully address” competition concerns identified earlier.

Hungary, Serbia to build new oil pipeline link

Szijjártó Serbia

In a bid to improve energy security, Hungary and Serbia will build a 128km oil pipeline between Algyő in Hungary and Novi Sad (Újvidek) in Serbia, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Belgrade, after a meeting of the mixed economic committee on Wednesday.

A contract on the planned project to be implemented by Hungary’s state oil company MOL and Serbia’s Transnafta will be signed at the summit meeting of the two countries’ governments on June 20, Péter Szijjártó told a press conference, according to the foreign ministry’s statement.

At Wednesday’s meeting it was agreed that Hungarian energy company MVM and Serbia’s gas supplier Srbijagas will set up a joint regional natural gas trading company and Hungary will store 100 million cubic metres of gas on behalf of Serbia, Szijjártó said.

Hungarian companies will also participate in upgrading Serbia’s electricity network, he said, adding that work was going according to schedule on doubling the capacity of the interconnector linking the two countries’ electricity networks. “There is no energy security for Hungary without Serbia, as there is no energy security in Serbia without Hungary,” said Szijjártó .

The minister said the committee also made an important decision on a large-scale infrastructure development project to cut the long waiting times at the border of two countries by building a modern border-crossing station between Röszke and Horgos, Szijjártó said, noting the importance of ensuring free flows between countries that have six billion euros-worth of trade turnover and close relations between their people.

“This is about one of Eurogape’s busiest border crossing stations, and we would like to build one of Europe’s top-notch such facilities there.” Further measures to speed up cross-border traffic include restructuring the Hercegszanto crossing to allow cargo transport there and allowing buses to cross at the Ásotthalom border station. The opening hours at the border stations will be extended, Szijjártó said.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó said that neither Serbia nor Hungary was responsible for the outbreak of the war, yet both countries were paying a high price for it. He called it “bad news” that the world was heading towards the formation of blocs.

“Central Europe must live up to its task of being successful in this very difficult environment, and this can only be achieved through reliable and predictable partnerships,” Szijjártó said, noting that Hungary and Serbia enjoyed such a partnership.

“Hungary and Serbia both support peace and the two countries are in agreement that what is most important is to save lives, which is possible only if there is peace,” the foreign minister said.

Answering a question, Szijjártó highlighted the importance for the Hungarian government of security cooperation with Serbia in the context of ongoing illegal migration which he said posed a serious challenge to both countries.

He noted that Hungary last year had to block 271,000 illegal entry attempts at its southern border. “We want to strengthen cooperation with Serbia in efforts to move the EU’s external line of defence further south,” Szijjártó said, noting the participation of Hungarian police forces in patrolling the Serbian-North Macedonia border together with Serbian police officers and border guards.

Hungary, Serbia preparing to build new oil pipeline

Serbia gas Hungary

Hungary and Serbia are preparing to build a new crude oil pipeline to strengthen the security of supply, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Thursday.

Negotiations between Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and Serbian oil transport company Transnafta are under way on the pipeline that will connect Algyo, in southern Hungary, and Novi Sad, in northern Serbia, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying. The agreement is expected to be signed in June, he added.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Serbia’s energy minister Dubravka Dedovic, Szijjártó said Europe was facing serious challenges in energy supply due to the war in Ukraine.

He noted that demand for energy had increased following the reopening of the Chinese economy, and LNG capacities had not yet been developed to the extent that it could make up for the loss of 60 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas on the European market.

“Hungarian-Serbian strategic energy cooperation is one of the guarantees that Hungary’s supply will remain secure in the next period,” he said.

Hungary receives a daily 9-15 million cubic metres of gas via the TurkStream pipeline from Serbia, and the country is also a possible delivery route for the volumes of gas Hungary wants to buy from Azerbaijan, Szijjártó said.

Hungary is therefore interested in the development of Serbia’s internal network and considers it a European issue, and therefore expects the European Union to finance infrastructure developments in the region that enable central Europe to access alternative sources, he said.

Szijjártó said that a framework agreement had been reached that Hungary will store 500 million cubic metres of gas for Serbia in its storage facilities this year as well.

In addition, state-owned energy company MVM and Srbijagas will set up a joint company soon to carry out joint gas trade activities, strengthening the presence of the two countries on the central European energy market, he said.

Szijjártó also welcomed the fact that the construction of the new cross-border power line is progressing according to schedule. This will result in doubling the transport capacity and is expected to be completed by 2028, he added.

Ukraine says Hungary is contributing to Russian war crimes with energy deals

Putin Russian president Viktor Orbán

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow and Russia’s energy exports are cheap, but that this contributes to Russia’s war crimes, so Ukrainian people are dying because of it.

Ukraine perseveres

Oleg Ustenko, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked to Politico. According to Ustenko “If you’ve seen the video where Russians cut the head off a Ukrainian soldier — the Hungarians are paying for the knife.”

The paper points out that Hungary and Russia have numerous energy relations. This led Hungary to prolong the war in Ukraine.

The situation is further exacerbated by a recent video showing the execution of a Ukrainian soldier.

“You have to be completely blind not to see what kinds of crimes you are sponsoring. Buying more gas from the Russians means you are giving them more capacity to escalate the war,” said Ustenko on the incident.

Read also:

Hungary perseveres

Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has not responded to the allegations. Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó signed a number of energy agreements in Moscow. These will allow Russian gas imports to Hungary to increase.

Orbán is a populist prime minister with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Politico. He has also consistently opposed the imposition of sanctions against Russia.

Budapest receives 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year, and the new amendment will allow even more to reach the Hungarian capital.

The security of Hungary’s energy supply requires uninterrupted transportation of gas, oil and nuclear fuel,” Szijjártó said earlier at a press conference. He added “To meet these three conditions, Hungarian-Russian energy cooperation must be uninterrupted. It has nothing to do with political preferences.”

Read also:

The two countries cooperate closely not only on gas but also on nuclear energy. Szijjártó said those who oppose the Paks nuclear power plant project are against Hungary. The Hungarian foreign minister also sent a message to Brussels to approve the agreement, otherwise, the country’s long-term energy supply would be at risk.

However, Ustenko wants the EU to step in and put pressure on Hungary. Germany, Poland and Finland have cut their Russian gas supplies to zero and several other countries have cut back significantly as well while Hungary receives nearly 80 percent of its gas from Russia.

 

Romania supplies gas to Hungary

refuel-gas

Romania will not only been seen as a transit route for natural gas but also as a country of origin, and Hungary wants a decision on the extraction of the Black Sea fields to be made as soon as possible, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Bucharest on Tuesday.

Szijjártó said current good cooperation between Hungary and Romania would ensure Hungary’s gas supplies, noting that Romania will transit gas from Azerbaijan. The Hungary-Romania interconnector now has a capacity of 2.5 billion cubic metres, and Hungary is planning to import two billion cubic metres per annum, he added.

Read also:

The Romanian government has passed a decision to link its gas resources at the Black Sea with the country’s distribution centre “from which there is already a pipeline to Hungary”, he said. “It is in our interest that Romania should pass an decision allowing Black Sea gas to reach Hungary as soon as possible,” he said.

On another subject, Szijjártó said the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party’s being part of the Romanian government had contributed to the development of Hungarian-Romanian cooperation “in a number of areas”. He welcomed that Romanian leaders appreciated that party and its politicians.

Romania’s Hungarian community is “an asset, a bridge continuously helping us in efforts to improve cooperation between Hungary and Romania,” Szijjártó said. He mentioned sports, environment protection, and European Union developments as areas in which ethnic Hungarian ministers had played key roles.

Read also:

Continuous improvement of bilateral cooperation is in Hungary’s key strategic interest, the minister said, noting close business ties and those of energy security.

The turnover of bilateral trade with Romania reached record of 12 billion euros last year, while Romania has now become Hungary’s third largest export market, Szijjártó said, noting the importance of continued development of transport routes.

Hungarian green party slams the government

Máté Kanász-Nagy

Fossil fuels must be phased out, the deputy group leader of opposition LMP said on Thursday, slamming the government’s decision to vote against a European Union proposal to curb gas consumption by 15 percent.

The government insists on an economic policy that ruins the environment, Máté Kanász-Nagy told a press conference.

At a time when 90 percent of the gas consumed comes from imports, the government is planning to build gas-fuelled plants to provide electricity for battery plants, Kanász-Nagy said. The imports would probably come from Russia, he added.

Read also: 

Instead, Kanász-Nagy called for an insulation programme for residential buildings and support for sustainable energy sources.

Hungary and Poland voted against a proposal of the European Commission to extend earlier legislation cutting the use of natural gas by 15 percent on Tuesday. At the time, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó warned that artificially curbing industrial consumption raised the risk of economic regression, and accused the EC of curbing member states’ competencies on energy issues.

Eternal friendship: Hungary and Poland go against the EU together

Poland Hungary friendship

Hungary and Poland have voted against a “dangerous” proposal of the European Commission to extend earlier legislation cutting the use of natural gas by 15 percent, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday in Brussels.

Szijjártó told a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU’s energy council that the EC’s proposal would cut gas consumption rather than drawing in further resources or developing infrastructure, the ministry said.

The original regulation was adopted last year despite Hungarian and Polish objection, he said. While that legislation pertained to a winter period when growing household demand made it easier to comply, this proposal is “more dangerous” as it threatens industrial consumption more, he said.

“Artificially curbing industrial consumption raises the risk of economic regression,” he said.

Szijjártó said the regulation amounted to a “stealthy curbing of member states’ competencies” as member states have the right to decide over energy use, the national energy mix and  the country’s economic structure themselves. “By deciding to curb the use of natural gas, they basically harm sovereign member states’ rights,” he added.

Hungary has now joined a lawsuit brought by Poland after the fist regulation, contesting the decision to adopt the regulation without a unanimous vote.

The regulation may curb demand on the market, he added, which would drive up prices. “The proposal threatens to bring growing prices and supply security issues, leading to recession,” he said.

Hungary voted against the proposal and maintains that gas supply is not a political issue, “and discriminating against gas resources on political grounds is extremely harmful.” The aim should be to bring as much natural gas into Europe as possible, from the most diverse resources possible, he said.

Many experts have warned of the possibility of a gas shortage this winter, he said. Some 60 billion cubic meters of Russian gas will be missing from the European system, and growing Chinese demand might syphon away further resources as the country’s economy reopens, he warned. Meanwhile, Europe is still missing the LNG capacity necessary to replace the missing resources, he said.

At the same time, natural gas costs seven times more in Europe than in the US, and electricity is three times dearer here than in China, he noted. “The only reasonable step in this situation would be to increase gas supply in Europe,” he said.

Read also:

Hungary started to replace Russian gas and could go even further

geothermal energy

Despite the Hungarian government’s stance on the importance of Russian raw materials, Hungary started to diversify its supply of natural gas. If Hungary wants to, it could be completely independent of Russian gas.

The Hungarian government campaigned tirelessly in the EU to get exemptions from the EU’s sanctions against Russia. It continues to do so with nuclear energy, but as G7 points out, the Hungarian economy started to use less and less Russian gas in 2022.

As the analysis of G7 argues, the diversification of gas supplies has been a desired goal for many years. Despite that, there has been little real progress in this area in recent years, either in Hungary or at the EU level.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 71 percent of natural gas coming to Hungary came through Ukraine from Russia. This could form a basis for the Hungarian government’s narrative that Russian gas is irreplaceable.

However, this situation already started to change in the autumn of 2021. That was when a new long-term agreement with Russia came into force, in which the Hungarian side agreed to buy from Gazprom via Serbia instead of Ukraine. As G7 argues, this was more significant for the Ukrainians, who were thus deprived of the transit fee for the gas.

The Serbian route did not fully replace the Ukrainian, but it gave a kickstart for the diversification that became a must after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Previously, in case of disruption, Hungary supplied its needs from Slovak and Austrian pipelines, also partly with Russian gas.

Diversification begins with great force

“Last year, 1 billion cubic metres of gas arrived in Hungary from both Romania and Croatia, which is a significant increase compared to the previous year, meaning that a diversification of supply sources has already started in 2022,” said Gábor Szokodi, FGSZ Trade and Business Development Director at the conference of the Hungarian Energy Traders Association. This means that Hungary’s supply from previously underutilised gas routes more than doubled in 2022.

Experts who spoke to G7, said that Russian gas is clearly not coming from Croatia, while the gas imported from Romania might originate from Russia. But this is not necessarily the case there either, as Hungary’s neighbour has a “significant” amount of its own production.

Overall, according to the calculations of G7, in one year, Hungary replaced 10-15 percent of its Russian gas import with alternative sources. Moreover, experts say that Hungary achieved that by only using a “fraction of the capacity of the pipelines concerned”.

All this indicates that there is a very real chance to replace Russian gas, or at least to diversify the sources of supply in a meaningful way. But as G7 warns, the question remains whether there is “political and commercial will to do so”.

Read alsoHungary bought most Russian gas when prices peaked

Could sanctions cause problems for Hungarian MOL’s gas supply?

Oil and gas pipe Russian oil

The latest restriction on oil products could have a negative impact on EU energy markets. According to an expert from MOL, this could even cause inflation, but the question is how the Russians will react.

Sanctions against Russia

The EU sanctions on Russia have not had a major impact on the European energy market so far, 24.hu reports. The main reason for the price hikes last year was pressure from Russia.

In December 2022, the European Commission banned imports of Russian offshore crude oil to the EU as the first step of its sixth package of sanctions. But even this has not had a major impact.

However, on 5 February, a new sanction came into force, banning imports of refined petroleum products (petrol, diesel and others) from Russia. This will put an end to Russian oil coming into the EU and being refined here. However, this would have been a serious problem for many countries, so refining was necessary. The EU allows exports within the EU or to third countries on the basis of the mass balance principle. This means that a country can export as much as the proportion of non-Russian oil it processes.

Impact on MOL

So far, MOL has spent USD 170 million to use less Russian oil and more Adriatic oil at the Danube Refinery.

“The company is already able to process 30-35 percent of alternative oil types in Százhalombatta, so it can potentially export 30-35 percent of the finished products produced,” said Ágnes Horváth, chief economist at MOL. MOL has to divest some of the oil maturing on the Friendship pipeline. Slovnaft, the Slovak subsidiary of the Hungarian multinational, is in a difficult situation, having processed only 5 percent of non-Russian oil.

“The risk is that it is still unclear how the Russian side will react if we halve or even reduce our purchases by a third,” Horváth said. The EU has been ordering less and less Russian gas, but pipeline maintenance, transit fees and other extra costs have not fallen significantly.

So Russia can hit back at the EU without losing much in terms of business. Hungary’s strategic stocks provide enough crude oil and fuel for several months. In a worst-case scenario, there could be a diesel shortage in the region, which would dampen economic activity.

Budapest metro line M3
Read alsoBudapest M3 metro back in service from Monday: here is the timetable

All countries reduce, Hungary increases dependence on Russia

Natural gas burner

Since Russia’s war against Ukraine broke out, Russian oil imports have fallen significantly. In 2021, Russia imported an average of 9.5 million tonnes of oil per month from the EU, down to 3.3 million tonnes in December. Hungary, however, has not decreased but increased its imports of Russian oil.

Russian oil imports to the EU decreased

Russia’s imports of crude oil by ship to the European Union already fell in March 2022. However, the major decline in the pipeline only started in the autumn, writes g7.hu.

Since the Russian-Ukrainian war began, EU countries have tried to reduce their dependence on Russia and Russian oil. However, different countries have been freed from Russian oil to different degrees. Not all countries have given up cheap oil.

Total EU imports of Russian oil fell by 17 percent in 2022. Some countries even increased imports. Perhaps less surprisingly, the Hungarian Orbán government, which has been described in the international press as pro-Russian, was in this group.

Besides Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy have also increased their imports of Russian oil. In Bulgaria, a 2.4-fold increase can be attributed to Russian-owned refineries, while in Hungary the surge in imports can be attributed to Mol. The Czech Republic and Romania are vociferous in their opposition to the Russians, so it is surprising that they still purchase Russian oil.

Less, but more expensive

While the volume of Russian oil imports has fallen, European spending has even increased due to higher market prices. In 2022 as a whole, Russian oil export revenues from EU countries amounted to EUR 57 billion, a five-fold increase compared to 2021 figures.

The price cap implemented by the European Union and the G7 has been working effectively: in a single month, the price per tonne of oil imported by ship has fallen by 13 percent. The price cap does not apply to pipeline prices though, thanks partially to the Hungarian lobby.

Asia is the new Europe

Europe has cut Russian oil imports but Russian sales have not fallen. China and India have now taken over the EU’s role.

gas energy kitchen
Read alsoHungary could have saved billions by not buying gas from Russia

Hungary could have saved billions by not buying gas from Russia

gas energy kitchen

Hungary could have saved around HUF 265 billion (697 million euros) by not buying gas from Russia.

We received 4.3 billion cubic metres of gas from the Russians in the whole year. We paid a total of HUF 544 billion (EUR 1,432,546,520) for the 5.9 billion cubic metres delivered in 2021. In 2022, Hungary paid Putin nearly 4.5 times more for a quarter less, a total of HUF 2.4 thousand billion (EUR 6.32 billion). While this translates into an average price of HUF 92 (EUR 0.24) per cubic metre in 2021, by 2022, the price has increased to HUF 574 (EUR 1.51) per cubic metre.

The TF average showed that we could have saved HUF 35 billion (EUR 92,167,515) in December if we had not bought gas from Russia. In full-year terms, this would have been around HUF 265 billion (EUR 697,839,757) if we had bought from the free market.

According to Blikk, we are currently paying 7 percent more for Russian gas, but in November this figure was over 10 percent.

The plans for the new complex
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Natural gas found in Eastern Hungary!

Natural Gas Refinery Gas Supply

MOL, the Hungarian oil and gas company, has successfully drilled three shallow gas wells in Eastern Hungary. Two drillings were carried out in the Komádi area and one in Álmosd. The three new wells will be able to meet the gas needs of up to 20,000 average family homes for years.

MOL launched its shallow gas programme in 2019. The initiative targets fields that are closer to the surface and small in size, Portfolio reports. In recent years, 16 out of 18 wells have been successful. Shallow gas currently accounts for roughly 5 percent of the company’s 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas production in Hungary each year.

The new findings were made possible by a special evaluation of modern seismic measurements. It will help researchers get a more accurate picture of where there is a high probability of gas deep underground, MOL said in a statement.

The gas fields targeted by the drilling are located at shallower depths than usual, usually around 1500-2000 metres, hence the name of the programme. The existing gas pipeline infrastructure in Hungary makes it possible to bring the discovered plants into production and deliver the gas to the population and industrial consumers in a very short time, on average 5-6 months.

The three new wells could contribute up to 750 barrels per day to maintain Mol’s production of around 32,000 barrels per day of gas and oil in Hungary. That is equivalent to about 44 million cubic metres of gas per year, Portfolio writes.

MOL is the largest producer of natural gas in Hungary. It accounted for 90 percent of domestic production in 2022 with 1.4 billion cubic meters, and shallow gas accounts for roughly 5 percent of the total. The company plans to invest around HUF 200 billion in oil and gas mining in Hungary over the next five years, with around 60-65 percent of this for natural gas, 20-25 percent for oil and the remainder for the safe maintenance and replacement of infrastructure, the press release said.

Featured image: illustration

orbán ambassadors
Read alsoOrbán reveals how long the food price and interest rate freeze will remain in Hungary – UPDATE

Hungary negotiates gas purchase with Egypt

Szijjártó Péter Egypt

Hungary and Egypt will sign a strategic partnership agreement aimed at cooperation based on mutual benefits in the areas of the nuclear industry, higher education, economy and energy supplies, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Cairo on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó said the agreement would be signed at a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi later in the day.

“Egypt and Hungary have been in long-term cooperation based on mutual respect, with both countries profiting a lot in the recent period,” Szijjártó said.

During their official visit in Cairo, the Hungarian delegation will sign several agreements including one on nuclear cooperation aimed at an exchange of experience, training experts and student exchange programmes, Szijjártó said. He noted that the two countries were simultaneously completing a nuclear plant project using the same technology and contractor.

  • Orbán reveals how long the food price and interest rate freeze will remain in Hungary – UPDATE

Szijjártó also announced the start of negotiations on buying liquefied natural gas from Egypt to be used in Hungary from 2026, thus increasing the country’s energy security.

Under another agreement, Hungarian companies would be granted preferential conditions for launching projects in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the minister said.

According to Szijjártó, higher education cooperation with Egypt will also be promoted, with the number of scholarships at Hungarian universities for Egyptian students increasing from an annual 115 to 200.

Concerning the Ukraine war, Szijjártó said “Egypt is also in the peace camp … urging a diplomatic solution”. The country is “part of the global majority, which undoubtedly falls outside Europe, but which is eager to see the war in Ukraine to end,” he said.

Szijjártó is also scheduled to meet local Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders, and he praised Egypt for making it a priority “to make the Christian community an integrated part of society, helping them preserve their religious heritage”.

NATO EU Viktor Orbán military kickout
Read alsoPolitical scientist: Western allies do not trust Hungary, NATO, EU will kick us out?

Greenpeace action on PM Viktor Orbán’s balcony

Greenpeace

“Gas, dependency: enough!” – this is the slogan that Greenpeace activists put up on the balcony overlooking the city at the office of Viktor Orbán in the Carmelite monastery.

Greenpeace at Orbán’s

Greenpeace activists put up a banner on the balcony of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The slogan on the banner read “Gas, addiction: enough!”

The activists said that the government’s response to the energy crisis is completely wrong, that they are not leading to a solution, but only to a deepening crisis.

“As the EU’s second largest buyer of Russian natural gas, Hungary’s dependence on fossil fuels has not been substantially reduced,” the environmental group wrote on Facebook. Greenpeace has demanded that the Hungarian government start renewable and energy efficiency programmes. These could quickly reduce the country’s use of natural gas and fossil energy in general.

“Radical austerity and a rapid green transition are needed, because it is in the fundamental interest of the country,” Greenpeace writes.

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High dependency

According to the organisation, the problem is that the Hungarian government is 85 percent dependent on Russian gas. Each Hungarian household contributes on average about half a million forints to maintain this dependence.

Greenpeace wants the gas to be phased out by 2035. Instead, climate-friendly, peaceful, renewable energy sources should be used to power the country. The organisation also offers suggestions and solutions to rapidly improve gas dependency.

“The government’s energy policy is harmful and flawed, because it is a policy of fossil dependency,” András Perges, Greenpeace’s climate and energy campaigner, told 24.hu.

He added that the skyrocketing energy prices are an unbearable burden for the population and the country, and the Hungarian people are tied to Russia like an umbilical cord.

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