March 14 (SeeNews) - Slovenia is holding talks to increase its imports of natural gas from Algeria and Morocco through Italy, aiming to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, infrastructure minister Jernej Vrtovec said.
The government is already in contact with the Italian energy ministry to explore the possibilities for a larger import of gas from North Africa via Italy, Vrtovec said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of state news agency STA on Friday.
"Slovenia can import enough gas through the Krk liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Croatia and Italy, so as to be independent of Russian gas imports," Vrtovec noted.
The peak gas consumption in Slovenia is 4.5 million cubic metres a day. The government is currently in talks for increasing the maximum capacity of the Sempeter pri Gorici entry point at the Italian border to 4.1 million cubic metres a day from 3.5 million cubic metres a day, the Slovenian infrastructure minister added.
A potential EU-wide ban on imports of oil and gas from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine would not cause fuel shortages in Slovenia, because the country has reserves for at least 90 days, Vrtovec said.
Slovenian drivers crowded at filling stations late on March 7 amid reports of upcoming price hikes. The price of a litre of diesel hit record-high 1.65 euro ($1.81) on March 10, while petrol price rose to 1.55 euro per litre. As at 0930 CET on March 14, the average prices of diesel and petrol have risen to 1.70 euro and 1.58 euro respectively, according to information portal Fuelo.
($ = 0.91274 euro)