According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Hungary had102 million barrels of proven oil reserves in January 2006. Hungary produced 45,190 bbl/d of oil during 2005. Hungary is therefore heavily dependent on oil imports, mostly from Russia. According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Hungary consumed an average of 167.72 thousand barrels a day of oil in 2007, 0.19% of the world total and a change from 2006 of -1.24 tbpd. All activities related to the hydrocarbon industry are carried out by the Hungarian Oil Co. (MOL). Hungary’s mineable oil reserves amount to 23 Mt and, as a rule, annual production exceeds the annual additions to reserves/resources resulting from new discoveries.
According to its three-year (2003-2005) strategic plan, the Hungarian Oil and Gas Company (MOL), aimed to double its oil exploration and extraction, investing $40-$50 million annually on exploration activities in Hungary.
MOL's refineries produce about 88,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and it operates more than 760 gas stations in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine. Other activities include transmission, storage, and wholesale trading of natural gas and related products, and exploration and production in Hungary, Russia, and areas of Central and Eastern Europe.
Within Hungary, apart from MOL, several foreign companies, including Coastal Hungary Ltd, Blue Star, Mobil Erdgas-Erdöl Gmbh and El Paso, participate in hydrocarbon exploration. During 2002 El Paso found good-quality natural gas at Törökkoppány (southern TransDanubia) at a depth of 907 m and is selling the product to MOL. Significant natural gas resources are located in the deeper parts of the Algyo, Szeghalom and Üllés hydrocarbon fields. According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Hungary had 2007 natural gas consumption of 11.79 billion cubic metres, 0.4% of the world total.
