Page 8 - FSU OGM Week 11 2021
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FSUOGM PERFORMANCE FSUOGM
European gas storage levels
slump to 33%
EUROPE UTILISATION levels in European gas storage at 23.6%.
levels have slumped to only 33%, representing a Russia’s Gazprom was one of the winners of
The trend is set to two-year low that follows several months of unu- the sudden plunge at the turn of the new year.
continue into April. sually cold weather. The company expanded gas exports to Europe by
The previous record low was set in April 2018, 33% year on year in January-February to 34.5bn
when storage facilities were only 18% full. There cubic metres (bcm).
was another low point in March 2019, when uti- Ukraine, as a key transit route for Rus-
lisation came to only 41%. sian gas heading to Europe, has also benefit-
Europe was contending with very high gas ted. Gazprom has booked additional transit
storage levels for much of last year, owing to the capacity via Ukraine for March, similarly to
impact of the coronavirus on demand, which February.
compounded other factors like increased LNG Gazprom only has to pay to ship 40bn cubic
supply and mild weather. But the situation has metrss (bcm) of gas per year via Ukraine, and it
now reversed. has been eager to avoid using the route any more
According to data published by Gas Infra- than necessary. But it has been booking extra
structure Europe (GIE), gas stocks have been capacity in recent months because of the spike
declining steadily since reaching a record high in demand as well as lengthy delays at the Nord
of 95% utilisation in late September last year. Stream 2 pipeline project.
Europe typically continues withdrawing gas Gazprom has booked 14.2mn cubic metre
from storage until April. per day of capacity in addition to the minimum
As of March 16, utilisation was at 32.4%, threshold this month at the Regional Booking
meaning that just under 360 TWh of gas was in Platform (RBP). It has also requested an extra
storage, according to GIE. Storage in Italy was 14.2mn cubic metres per day of capacity in
at 38.8%, in Germany at 27.2% and in the UK April.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 11 17•March•2021
