Germany's Wingas joint venture, owned 65% by Wintershall AG, Kassel, and 35% by Russia's GAO Gazprom, began work on the second phase of the North Jagal pipeline.
The Jamal Gas Anbindungsleiting (Jagal) gas network is being built to carry gas delivered from the Yamal region in western Siberia to customers in the former East Germany and to the main German gas grid. The North Jagal section will be a 336-km, 1,200-mm pipeline that extends southwest from the Polish border near Frankfurt an der Oder to link up with the Stegal trunkline at Rückersdorf (See map [144,724 bytes]).
At the end of 1997, Wingas completed construction of a 111-km section of the Jagal line from Frankfurt an der Oder to Baruth. Now Wingas has started building the remaining 225-km section from Baruth to Rückersdorf. In addition to the North Jagal pipeline, Wingas also plans to build the West Jagal line to carry Russian gas to western Germany, and the South Jagal line to complete its trunk line grid in western Germany.
A Wingas official told OGJ that the North Jagal pipeline is expected to be completed in October 1999, and that, while the West Jagal and South Jagal sections are planned, there is no firm construction schedule as yet.
The official said Wingas will deliver gas under contract through the North Jagal pipeline to Verbundnetz Gas AG of Leipzig, which handles most gas sales and transportation in the former East Germany.
Wingas imported 21 bcf of gas from Russia last year and expects to import the same amount this year. In 2000, the JV anticipates importing 175 bcf of gas from Russia, and after 2005, the Jagal line is expected to operate at full capacity of 980 bcf/year.
Capital expenditure on the North Jagal pipeline is pegged at $630 million. Last year, Gazprom debottlenecked its existing gas network and added new sections to its pipeline grid as the first phase of construction of the Yamal-Europe gas trunkline. Gazprom is expected to complete construction by yearend of a leg of the Yamal pipeline from Belarus through Poland to the terminus of the North Jagal system at Frankfurt an der Oder.
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