Through four procurement rounds, the Estonian Stockpiling Agency (ESPA) has acquired 650 Gigawatt-hours of natural gas to date. "However, additional funding for the agency is necessary in order to increase the supply; this will help to prepare for the upcoming heating season," Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut (SDE) said.

Natural gas consumption fell from annual five terawatt-hour to approximately 3.8 terawatt-hour last year; together with Elering's protected customer reserve the state's annual gas consumption is about a fifth.

The LNG regasification vessel (FSRU) that arrived in the Finnish port of Inkoo last week, the minister said, also improves the region's gas supply security.

"The gas reserve established to date is sufficient to ensure Estonian consumers' primary supply security this winter; however, the price of natural gas has dropped significantly and this allows the agency to further increase its gas reserve for the upcoming winter," Sikkut said.

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