Page 58 - UKRRptOct19

9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1​ Oil & gas sector news
Ukraine boosted its natural gas stocks in underground storage facilities by 2.3 times, or 11.131bn cubic meters (bcm), to 19.877 bcm ​from early April to September 21, according to data published by the nation's state-owned gas operator Ukrtransgaz. The country had 15.05 bcm of gas in storage by the same time last year. According to calculations of news agency Interfax, this volume exceeds the inventory indicator as of September 21, 2018 by 26.2% and that as of September 21, 2017 by 24.7%. Over the past months, Ukraine was actively preparing for possible halt by Russia's Gazprom to gas transit shipments via Ukraine from January 1. According to ​last week's statement​ of the nation's state-owned monopoly Naftogaz, this is "a base-case scenario". Kyiv believes that Russia will suspend ​deliveries of gas​, including the transit gas to Russia’s European customers via Ukraine, on January 1, 2020, when the current contract for gas transit to Europe between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine expires. More than a third of Europe's gas comes from Russia, and most of that goes through Ukraine's pipelines.
The conclusion of a settlement agreement on ​the Stockholm arbitration court ruling​ is an important precondition for Russia’s state-owned gas giant​ ​Gazprom​ to sign a new deal with Ukraine’s national gas company Naftogaz​, ​Russian energy minister Aleksandr Novak told journalists on September 24. Last year, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ordered Gazprom to pay $4.63bn to Naftogaz for the failure to meet gas transit obligations. However, since the court previously ordered Naftogaz to pay Gazprom for gas supply arrears in January, Gazprom's net payment after two arbitration decisions was ​$2.56bn​.
To prepare for a new transit contract, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers voted to comply with EU energy laws and ‘unbundle’ of Naftogaz gas pipelines from gas production​. Now, the Finance Ministry controls a new state company “Gas Pipelines of Ukraine.” “We have created an independent operator in full compliance with European legislation,” Prime Minister Honcharuk said yesterday. “This will open up the opportunity to attract investment in the Ukrainian gas transportation system.”
By the end of this year, Ukraine intends to have in place EU-standard legislation that will allow European companies to buy gas from Russia at Ukraine’s eastern border.​ “By the end of this year, all the necessary changes can be made,” Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev told reporters in Brussels on Friday, the day after Russia-Ukraine-EU talks were held to renew the gas supply contract. With talks set to resume Oct. 20, Ukraine and the EU are pushing Russia for a 10-year contract with Ukraine’s new pipeline company, stipulating a minimum flow of 60bn cubic meters. Last year, 87bn cubic meters of Russian gas flowed through Ukrainian pipelines to the EU and Moldova.
Ukraine imported its first cargo of American liquefied petroleum gas, or
58​ UKRAINE Country Report​ October 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com