Page 60 - UKRRptDec20

9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1​ Oil & gas sector news
Gazprom booked more capacity on Ukraine’s pipelines this fall, ​Andriy Kobolyev, Naftogaz’s chief executive, told Reuters last week in Washington. Kobolyev reads this as Gazprom reacting to US sanctions pressuring the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, the stalled Russia-Germany trans-Baltic direct link.
Russian gas transit through Ukraine’s pipeline system is down 38.4% this year,​ to 45bn cubic meters, Sergiy Makogon, head of Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operator, wrote yesterday on his Facebook page. At this rate, Ukraine will move 55-56bcm this year, about 15% below the 65bcm amount contracted with Gazprom for this year. Under the new, 5-year contract Gazprom promises to pay for shipping the full amount, whether it is shipped or not.
Ukraine has become a key player in the EU natural gas market, storing 10bn cubic meters of gas this fall for gas traders. ​With the European heating starting last month, Ukraine, for the first time in history, started re-exported stored gas to EU countries. “A significant milestone for the gas market is the start of the re-export of gas that was previously imported to Ukraine from the EU,” Sergei Makogon, CEO of the Operator of the Gas Transportation System of Ukraine, writes on Facebook. “Previously, there was only transit and import.” Integrating Ukraine into the regional gas system are: duty free gas storage, duty free short haul gas transportation through Ukraine, and new reverse flow gas pipelines.
Ukrainian Government assigned Nagtogaz to conduct a geological study of the Black Sea shelf within the Ukrainian part ​and mandated the right to obtain special permits for the extraction of oil and gas fields in this area. Once the geological results are available, Naftogaz envisages the increase of the asset value and plans to invite foreign investors to take part in gas extraction. According to Naftogaz, the shelf possesses 1-2 trillion m3 of gas. In the long run, this means the possibility of production of up to 10 billion m3 per year, which allows Ukraine to make its own success story in shelf exploration.
60​ UKRAINE Country Report​ December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com