Page 12 - EurOil Week 09 2022

EurOil NEWS IN BRIEF EurOil

Romania can operate amounted to 50mn-60mn cubic metres, Croatia’s Krk LNG terminal to
At the beginning of February, the flow
normally for one month followed by a drop to 20mn after February secure enough natural gas
10, while now the flow reached the volume
without foreign gas, from November and December last year. amid sanctions on Russia,
Eustream is majority owned by the Slovak
Depogaz executive says government (51%), the remaining 49% and PM says
management control is held by the Czech
Turkey’s natural gas imports dropped 1.3% Energy and Industrial Holding (EPH), Algeria’s state-owned energy firm
y/y in December, state-run news service owned by Czech-Slovak billionaires Daniel Sonatrach said it is ready to supply the
Anadolu Agency has reported, citing data Kretinsky and Patrik Tkac. EU with extra gas amid the Ukraine crisis
from energy market regulator EPDK. as the European countries which usually
Natural gas imports declined to 6.18bn depend on the Russian gas flow face
cubic metres (bcm) from 6.26 bcm in the MOL losing 9 cents per litre potential gas shortages, the firm’s CEO,
same month of 2020. Toufik Hakkar, pointed out in an interview
The country in December imported as Hungary introduces cap with daily Liberte.
3.66 bcm of natural gas via pipelines, while The extra Algerian gas will flow to the
2.51mn cubic metres (mcm) was purchased on wholesale fuel prices EU via the Transmed pipeline linking
as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Algeria to Italy, Hakkar said, noting
Imports through pipelines fell by 24.6% Hungary’s government has capped wholesale that the extra LNG flows will be offered
y/y but LNG purchases increased by 81% y/y. prices for petrol and diesel at HUF 480/litre after domestic demand and contractual
Gas imports from Russia decreased by (€1.26), level with the limit on retail prices, and engagements are met.
30% y/y to 2.1 bcm, but imports from the US cut excise fuel prices slightly to prevent busi- The Transmed pipeline, jointly operated
and Iran increased by 92.6% and 4.5% to 1.05 nesses from having to sell under cost. with Italy’s Eni, has a capacity of some
mcm and 855 mcm, respectively. The government introduced the retail vehi- 32bn cubic metres per year – four times
The country’s total gas consumption was cle fuel price cap in mid-November for three that of the Medgaz pipeline to Spain. Some
down by 2.1% y/y to approximately 6.21 bcm months to rein in inflation. The measure was capacity, nearly 10mn cubic metres of the
with household consumption rising by 2.7% recently extended until May 15. pipeline, is still unused.
to 2.25 bcm. Power plants’ natural gas usage The surge in fuel prices has lifted the whole- Algeria accounts for about 11% of
decreased by 8% y/y to 1.43 bcm. sale price to over HUF480 per litre, which Europe’s gas imports. Algerian LNG can
The December data also showed that the meant that businesses lost money on every also be transported via tankers. Existing
natural gas volume in storage decreased by litre sold. liquefaction plants are only operating at
32.9% y/y to 1.91 bcm. Small fuel operators have initiated talks with 50-60% of capacity.
the government on reducing their burdens, Last month, Sonatrach said it would
either by financial compensation or reducing invest $40bn into oil exploration,
Slovak state utility company the excise tax or VAT on fuel. The state collects production and refinement, as well as gas
HUF260 tax on every litre at HUF480.
prospecting and extraction, until 2026.
SPP buys LNG to increase its around HUF34.5 (€0.09) per litre, the oil and
By capping wholesale prices, MOL is losing
gas reserves amid Ukrainian gas company said on Wednesday. Gazprom could stop
CEE’s second largest oil gas company said it
conflict respects the government’s decision, but noted supplies to Bulgaria, energy
that higher crude prices and the weaker forint
Slovak state-owned Slovensky Plynarensky do impact wholesale prices. minister says
Priemysel (Slovak Gas Industry, SPP) The company said it will continue to ensure
purchased liquefied natural gas (LNG) for uninterrupted supplies of 95 octane petrol and There is a risk that Russian Gazprom may
the first time, said SPP spokesperson Ondrej diesel to its customers, including residential stop supplies of natural gas to Bulgaria’s
Sebesta, the Slovak News Agency reported. consumers. state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz, Energy
“Thanks to this supply, we will have a Parallel with the wholesale price cap, the Minister Aleksandar Nikolov said in
comfortable abundance of gas until the government lowered the excise tax on petrol to an interview with bTV on February 27.
end of March or the end of the heating HUF115,000 from HUF120,000 per 1,000 litres Bulgaria imports more than 70% of
season and not only for households but also and the excise tax on diesel to HUF105,350 its natural gas from Russia and would be
companies, without any interruptions,” said from HUF110,350 per 1,000 litres. This marks hard hit in case those supplies stop.
Economy Minister Richard Sulik, according a U-turn as the government ruled out tax cuts. “Of course, there is a risk of Gazprom
to the news agency. MOL’s net profit bounced back from a stopping the supplies to Bulgargaz but any
As reported by the news agency, another HUF18bn loss in 2020 to HUF526bn last year. actions from the Russian side cannot be
Slovak partly state-owned gas transmission Net sales exceeded HUF5.9 trillion in 2021, up predicted,” he said.
operator Eustream said it does not report from HUF4 trillion a year earlier. Ebitda rose Nikolov added that the exclusion of
any drop in gas flow. On the contrary, on to $3.53bn last year, exceeding the annual tar- Russia from SWIFT by itelf would not stop
March 1, the company reported that more get of $3.2bn. The company’s guidance for 2022 the supplies.
than 80mn cubic metres of Russian natural is $2.8bn. “The first main reason to comment on
gas has been flowing into Slovakia through MOL shares edged up 0.2% to HUF2,448, that topic is whether there is a desire for
the Velke Kapusany entry point every but are down 8% in the last ten days. supply and a risk for it to be interrupted.
day. The situation has not changed at the Then comes the method of payment and
beginning of March. the ability to pay,” Nikolov said.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 04•March•2022