The Hungarian hydrocarbon industry is dated back to 1937 February, when the crude oil and natural gas field at Budafapuszta was discovered.

The first gas pipeline in Hungary was constructed in 1938, and it connected drilling sites with various operating facilities. The first gas transmission pipeline was inaugurated between Bázakerettye and Nagykanizsa (length: 27 km) in 1942. Hungary was the first applying globally the so-called plugging transmission technology in 1949, i.e. the same pipeline was used fro alternately delivering crude oil and natural gas to the heart of the country. The National Mineral Oil and Natural gas Transportation Company (Ásványolaj- és Földgáz-távvezeték Nemzeti Vállalat) was founded in the same year, then in 1954 the Crude Oil Pipeline Company (KVV), both having its head office at Siófok. The first international gas transmission pipeline was commissioned between Csenger and Tiszapalkonya, the so-called „Romania-Hungary” pipeline in 1958.

Dynamic construction was going on in the following years. Telecommunication cables were laid down along the pipelines to secure the safety of operations, though this was a revolutionary innovation at that time. A dispatcher centre was set up in 1968 at Siófok to secure coordinated system operations, and this centre has been responsible for balancing the transmission system ever since.

Discovery of gas fields in Hungary and appearance of the modern, gas-based production technologies resulted in a fantastic boom. The number of gas transfer stations rapidly increased and this required decentralised system control and management. Area centres were developed one after the other at Kápolnásnyék, Gellénháza, Hajdúszoboszló, Vecsés, Kecskemét and Miskolc, and they are still in operation as our regional centres.

The Hungarian transmission system was connected to the Soviet natural gas network in 1975. The gas transmission pipeline between the Austrian border and Győr was commissioned in 1996, thus Hungary implemented a two-way supply system, and was connected to the European network, opening the way for trading gas with the EU member countries. The length of the existing transmission system is 5782 km long, including nearly 400 gas transfer stations and 5 compressor stations. When Hungary joined the European Union, we had to develop a new EU-conform regulatory environment, as well as to fully transform the Hungarian structure of natural gas distribution, and re-regulation of the domestic gas market. The Law XLII of 2003 and the implementation decrees entered into force on January 1, 2004. As the most important result of the said changes in law the former gas monopolies were eliminated, and new gas transmission, storage and supply companies were established from the former units of MOL Plc. Natural Gas Division (the sole holder of gas supply license), with independent legal entity status. This new regulatory system unbundled the gas trade from the gas system operation (TSO), and domestic gas trade will in the future be pursued not on the basis of exclusivity, any party will be allowed to perform such operations, of course, subject to the relevant license.

On 25 June 2008, the Act XL of 2008 on Natural Gas Supply came into force, which facilitated the further liberalisation of the market. The 14. January 2010 amendment of the Act established a new framework for natural gas transmission, storage, distribution and supply, based on Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Union.
Therefore FGSZ Ltd. will operate as an ITO (Independent Transmission Operator) in the future.

The essence of the ITO model is to ensure that, in case the transmission system operator is part of a vertically integrated company, it must provide fair access to the network for all market players in a non-discriminatory way, implement all necessary investments and take part in the integration of European gas markets, based on its obligations declared int he Act.

FGSZ Natural Gas Transmission Closed Company Limited by Shares will permanently develop its system also in the future in order to improve the security of gas supply. We have successfully accumulated professional experiences during our long corporate history and they can effectively help us in providing high level of gas transmission services to our clients both at present and in the future.