Page 110 - RusRPTJul21

Gazpromon June 29 refused Ukraine’s offer to ship 50% more Russian gas to the EU in July. Two Russian pipelines – Nord Stream 1 and Yamal-Europe – are to undergo maintenance in July, reducing flows from Russia by 2.2bn cubic meters. With these scheduled shutdowns in mind, Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operator offered to increase daily transit by 51%, to 188mn cubic meters.
Nord Stream 2, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, at the request of the regulator in Germany, applied for certification as an independent operator of the gas transmission system (GTS), but does not change or soften its position on amendments to the EU Gas Directive, the company said. “Based on a request from the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur – BNetzA), Nord Stream 2 applied for preventive certification as an independent operator of the transport system on 11 June 2021 in accordance with sections 4b, 10 et seq. of the German Energy Industry Law,” the company said. At the same time, Nord Stream 2 made a reservation that it continues its ongoing litigation and arbitration in relation to the amendments to the EU Gas Directive adopted in 2019.Nord Stream 2 previously appealed in German courts against the refusal to satisfy the petition for the exemption (derogation) of Nord Stream 2 from the provisions of the Gas Directive; the proceedings are now being conducted at the Supreme Regional Court of Dusseldorf.
The TTF Day Ahead price is now at $371/mcm, according to Bloomberg data. Vedomosti reported, citing Refinitiv data, that the hub price moved above $451/mcm. TTF Day Ahead prices are at their highest point since March 2018, when prices were $965-1,000/mcm (depending on Bloomberg or Refinitiv data) as the “Beast from the East” cold front pushed temperatures to below -16 degrees Celsius, according to Vedomosti. The reason for the current spike in prices is in part due to underground storage on the continent being around 20% below its normal level. Underground storage levels are currently 44.7% full, according to GIE data, vs. 78.4% full at this time in 2020, 69.4% in 2019 and 45.1% in 2018. Less LNG is also flowing to the continent, according to Bloomberg, due to increased demand in China and Brazil, which are facing droughts that are limiting hydropower. Looking ahead, hurricane season in the US could also mean fewer LNG shipments to Europe. Also playing a part is high carbon prices in Europe, which are pushing up demand for gas over fuels such as coal. Gazprom has booked all offered additional capacity (15mmcm per day) via Ukraine for July, and another auction is planned for next week. In May, Gazprom did not book any additional capacity. In February, March and April, Gazprom booked the offered 14.2mmcm per day via Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.
A German court will hear Nord Stream-2’s appeal on European rules regarding required 3rd-party access to pipelines on or after 25 August, reports Argus FSUE. Analysis: With completion now a given, now the battle turns to utilization. We fully expected that, once construction of Nord Stream-2
110 RUSSIA Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com