ABSTRACT
Gas storages are primarily built to balance out the
gap between the continuous, fixed capacity delivery
of natural gas from the suppliers and strong fluctua-
tions in seasonal demand and for peak shaving. Gas
storages are also used for strategic gas purchasing,
securing gas supplies and bridging technical or po-
litical shortfalls in deliveries. The strong increase in
natural gas consumption worldwide - in which in-
dustrial nations like China and India will play a de-
cisive role - against the background of diminishing
domestic gas production in the main consuming
countries, increases the dependency on natural gas
imports from third countries.
