Page 43 - UKRRptAug21

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
In a setback for Russia’s gas pipelines to Germany, Europe’s top court July 15 ruled that Gazprom must cut in half its gas volumes through Nord Stream 1 to German’s OPAL pipeline. The pipeline which runs from the Baltic to the German-Czech border, Reuters reports from Brussels. Under the EU’s Third Energy Package, the other half of Nord Stream 1 must be allocated to other shippers, according to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union. Settling a five-year legal fight initiated by Poland, this court ruling is expected to also apply to Nord Stream 2, and its German onshore extension, EUGAL.
Starting from October 1st, Russian gas will flow to Hungary via Turkey and Serbia, bypassing Ukraine. On June 4, Serbian company Srbijagas and Hungarian FGSZ connected sections of the TurkStream pipeline. The pipeline starts in Russia and crosses the Black Sea. For $65mn, FGSZ is building a 15 km interconnector, which will have a capacity of 6bn cubic meters a year.
Matthias Warnig, CEO of Nord Stream AG, told German’s Handelsblatt newspaper on June 12 that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is 98% complete. “We expect the construction work to be completed by the end of August,” he said in comments published on Sunday. Warnig predicted the pipeline will become operational this fall.
The price of gas reached a historic high in first week of July on the Ukrainian Energy Exchange -- $563 for 1,000 cubic meters in the first week of July. The Exchange cites a myriad of reasons for high prices: low stocks; insufficient supplies from Russia; supply disruptions from Norway; LNG cargoes diverted to Asia and the record cost of EU carbon emissions quotas. Yesterday, the price at the Netherlands TTF hub was $441/1,000 cubic meters, a 13 year high.
The average price of imported natural gas paid by Ukraine quadrupled over the last year, reaching $334 per 1,000 cubic meters at the end of June, the Economy Ministry reported yesterday. This autumn, increases in the price of gas will be passed on to Ukrainian households, with gas bills rising by as much as 40% on October 1, warned the heating and power industry association, Ukrteplokommunenergo. Russia’s Gazprom is restricting supply and forcing up prices in an effort to persuade the EU to commission Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline this autumn.
Russia’s Gazprom is keeping to its transmission contract by sending through Ukraine 19.7bn cubic meters for the first half of this year, as indicated by figures from Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operator. Starting this year through to 2024, Gazprom is committed to sending 40bcm a year through Ukraine. “Gazprom is using all previously booked capacity, but has not shown interest in additional transit capacity, despite the record rise in
43 UKRAINE Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com