Page 7 - FSUOGM Week 33 2019

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Ukraine to tap Romanian gas via Moldova
UKRAINE
Ukraine wants to reverse- ow the Trans- Balkan pipeline.
UKRAINE has agreed with Moldova to upgrade border metering stations in order to tap gas sup- plies from Romania, its national gas grid opera- tor Ukrtransgas reported on August 19.
Ukrtransgaz and its Moldovan partner Mol- dovagaz plan to modernise the Grebeniki and Kaushany metering stations, which will enable Ukraine to reverse- ow up to 1.5bn cubic metres of gas per year from Romania via the Trans-Bal- kan pipeline.
Trans-Balkan is currently used to ship Rus- sian gas to south-east Europe and Turkey, but Russia’s state-owned gas supplier Gazprom has suggested it may stop using the route once the second stage of its TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea starts up in 2020-2021.
“ e main purpose for the co-operation is to diversify gas supply routes to Ukraine in prepa- ration for the autumn-winter period 2019/2020,” Ukrtransgaz stated.
The company intends to build additional pipeline bypasses and finish revamping the Grebeniki station by the end of this year, coin- ciding with the expiry of Ukraine’s long-term gas transit contract with Russia.
Russia currently pumps around a third
of its European gas deliveries via Ukraine, using Trans-Balkan and other pipelines. Moscow’s stated aim is to reduce volumes, however, by diverting supplies to Nord Stream 2, due to start flowing gas under the Baltic Sea early next year, and at a later stage TurkStream.
Ukraine stopped buying gas directly from Russia in 2015, and has since relied on domestic production and imports from the EU to satisfy demand. But Kyiv still sees the potential loss of transit volumes as a threat to its supply security. To mitigate this risk, it aims to have 20% more gas in underground storage by the start of this winter compared with last year.
While Russia is eager to reduce transit vol- umes next year, it will not have the extra capac- ity online in time to stop using Ukraine as a gas route entirely. Just how much gas will continue owing through the country will depend on how quickly Nord Stream 2 progresses, and the out- come of talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU. e European Commission has suggested the next round of negotiations could take place in the week starting September 16, according to Russian state media. ™
Week 33 21•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7