By KYIV. March 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Interconnector gas pipeline from Britain to Belgium halted operations this past Saturday because of an accident.
The UK partially functions as an offshore LNG terminal for Europe, with a developed system of receiving facilities, from where gas is re-exported to the mainland.
The Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, or GTSOU, has accepted a booking from Gazprom today to transport 41.5 million cubic meters of gas through the country, and it was just under 40 mcm of gas during the weekend, data from the GTSOU show.
Capacity was requested only through one of two entry points into Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System, the Sudzha metering station. A request was not accepted through the Sokhranivka metering station.
The Interconnector gas pipeline halted operations this past weekend resulting from a breakdown in equipment at the LNG terminal in Bacton, UK. Gas deliveries through the pipeline gradually decreased from March 1 and completely stopped on March 4, and technicians have promised to remedy the matter by morning on March 8. The UK has a developed system of receiving terminals, and LNG regasified at the terminals is re-exported to the continent. One billion cubic meters of gas were pumped through Interconnector to Europe in February at about 38 million cubic meters per day.
The day-ahead contract for today at the Dutch TTF gas hub in the Netherlands closed at $510 per 1,000 cubic meters.
A split between LNG prices in Asia and those in Europe has noticeably returned. In Asia, the most expensive futures contract for April on the JKM Platts index is $511 per 1,000 cubic meters, and futures under the LNG North-West Europe Marker are $474 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Wind turbines provided 13% of the region’s electricity needs last week, dipping to 11.4% on Sunday, and the figure was 16% two weeks ago, according to WindEurope.
Current inventory levels in Europe’s underground gas storage (UGS) facilities have declined to 59.24%, which is 21 percentage points above the average for the same date over the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Inventories contracted 0.31 percentage point during the gas day for March 4, during the weekend, when demand typically declines. The weather forecast calls for slightly colder temperatures this week, resulting in increased offtake from UGS facilities.
The relatively mild weather in October, November and January, in addition to the continent’s austerity measures, have resulted in the level of inventories in UGS facilities being at an all-time high for this time of year since monitoring began, thereby underpinning the authorities’ confidence in getting through the winter in good shape.
European LNG terminals operated at 63% capacity in February, and the figure has been 75% since the start of March.
The state of gas in UGS facilities in the United States is of increasing importance for the global market, and the country is actively increasing gas exports, primarily to Europe.
Inventories decreased 2.3 billion cubic meters for the latest reporting week ending February 24, 2023, which is 33.3% less than the usual offtake for this time of the year.
The current level of inventories is around 44%, which is 19 percentage points higher than the average figure for the past five years, according to the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration. The current level of inventories is close to the highest figure for the past five years.
Freeport LNG, the United States’ largest LNG plant, has announced reopening two of its three liquefaction lines, thereby reducing the excess gas on the U.S. market and boosting supplies of LNG to the global market.
