By KYIV. Oct 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Traders have increased imports of natural gas to Ukraine due to a surplus of the resource that has temporarily arisen in Europe and a decrease in prices for it, Serhiy Makogon, ex-head of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC (GTSOU), has said on Facebook.
According to him, the surplus is associated with a lower than expected gas consumption in the EU due to warm weather in the region against the backdrop of continued significant volumes of LNG supplies to EU terminals.
"Freight is expensive, so traders need to quickly unload tankers. Almost full loading of European UGS facilities does not allow pumping significant volumes into them," Makogon explained.
"Traders are ready to reduce gas prices in order to quickly get rid of excess gas volumes. As a result, the price of gas in the EU has fallen below $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters. This is temporary and gas prices could rise sharply again when the weather gets cold or due to new ‘tricks’ of Gazprom. Therefore, some traders are ready to take risks and import gas for temporary storage in Ukraine in order to sell it later at a higher price, " he added.
Makogon said the current situation creates interesting opportunities for Ukraine to use its UGS facilities thanks to the previously created services "customs warehouse" and short haul transit.
GTSOU has told international partners of the country’s readiness to offer free capacities for gas storage and transportation.
"Customers have already been familiar with these services since 2020, agreements have been concluded, only appropriate decisions are required. To date, using the potential and capabilities of Ukraine is the best assistance in the energy sector that the EU can provide," acting GTSOU head Pavlo Stanchak said.
According to the forecast of head of the strategy department at GTSOU Oleksiy Yaroshenko, the trend of "excessive" gas will continue over the next weeks, although it is not a guarantee of an easy passage of the heating season.
"Europe’s ability to get through the energy crisis with minimal losses depends on its ability to reduce consumption, diversify sources of supply, remove bottlenecks on routes and attract all available infrastructure capacities – including Ukraine’s gas transport infrastructure and its gas storage facilities. After all, the more gas can be pumped into Europe’s storage facilities now means less gas will need to be bought or saved next year, which may be even harder than this year," he said.
"This is especially true for the Central European countries, which will thus create not only an additional gas supply, but also an alternative supply route in case of cold weather or unpredictable situations," he added.
As reported, the flow of gas from the EU to Ukraine on October 25-27 increased to 20-22 million cubic meters (mcm) per day. In the period October 1-25, 2022, Ukraine received 188 mcm from the territory of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, including to UGS "customs warehouse" – 155 mcm, while in September deliveries amounted to only 29 million cubic meters.
Moldova pumps part of the gas into UGS facilities in Ukraine, which forms a reserve with the help of an EBRD credit line.
