MOL Plc and Gazprom Export LLC signed agreement for establishing a joint gas storage company

MOL and Gazprom Export signed today an agreement to jointly establish an underground gas storage facility in Hungary. The parties will address the actual final investment decision subject to actual regulatory approvals, financing and technical feasibility of the project.

The new company owned 50-50% by the parties will significantly increase security of supply in the region.

The gas storage facility is expected to have a capacity of 1.3 billion cubic meters, with a daily extraction capacity of 15 million cubic meters. The facility will be established by the conversion of MOL’s Pusztaföldvár-Dús natural gas reservoir.

The construction of the facility is expected to commence after 2010 and the facility could be on stream around 2012-2013.

MOL Group is a leading independent, international and integrated oil and gas company in Central-Eastern Europe, headquartered in Budapest. It has operations in Europe, Middle East, Africa and the CIS member states and it employs over 15.000 people worldwide. MOL also owns 3 highly complex refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and Italy with a total throughput capacity of 16.8 mtpa and according to Wood Mackenzie global survey the refineries in Hungary and in Slovakia are the most efficient refineries in Europe. MOL operates over 1000 filling stations in Central and South Eastern Europe. The Group also operates over 5,000 km high pressure natural gas pipeline network in Hungary, it is the majority owner of Hungary’s strategic gas storage facility under construction and is involved in the petrochemical business as well.

Gazprom Export is the world's leading exporter of natural gas to Europe and CIS countries. The company exports gas condensate, crude oil, petrochemicals, liquefied hydrocarbon gases, and other products of the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry. It commercializes gas to new markets, optimizes export flows, and forecasts gas market opportunities, while also participating in developing and implementing energy investment projects of Gazprom in Russia and abroad.