Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 14 / Trend , E.Ismayilov /
The Sate Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has begun the withdrawal of gas from the underground storage facilities of Azerbaijan due to the sharp deterioration in weather conditions, a source in SOCAR said on Monday.
Azerbaijan has two underground gas storage facilities - Kalmaz and Garadagh.
The source said the process of gas pumping into underground storage facilities ended a little earlier in 2011 due to a sharp decrease in temperature and worsening weather conditions.
"Because of the cold snap, the withdrawal of gas from underground storage facilities started early this year," the source said.
"Right now, gas withdrawal is carried out only from the Garadagh store at a level of 7.2 million cubic meters of gas per day. The withdrawal of gas from the Kalmaz has not been launched," the source said.
"However, the figure will soon be increased by 1.5 million cubic meters," the source said.
SOCAR facilities have already withdrew 100 million cubic meters of gas from underground storage.