Page 10 - GLNG Week 35

GLNG EUROPE GLNG
Poland transfers US LNG to Ukraine
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
POLAND plans to supply a batch of LNG set to arrive from the US in two months to Ukraine, as the three countries look to bolster co-operation in the gas sector.
e shipment to set to be received at Poland’s LNG import terminal in Swinoujscie in early November, the country’s state-owned PGNiG said on August 29. Once regasi ed, it will be sent by the end of the year to Ukraine via a gas con- nection at Hermanowice, near the two countries’ border.
e batch will be sold to US investment rm Energy Resources of Ukraine (ERU), which intendstostorethegasfordeliverytocustomers in the 2019-2020 heating season.
Ukraine consumed 32.3bn cubic metres of gas last year, 10.6 bcm of which was imported from EU and the rest covered by domestic sup- ply. It has not bought any gas directly from Rus- sia in almost four years, as relations between Kiev and Moscow remain hostile over the latter’s 2014 takeover of Crimea, conflict in eastern Ukraine and a multi-billion dollar dispute over gas transit terms.
Poland is also anxious to curb Russian sup- ply, which currently meets two thirds of its con- sumption of 15 bcm per year. Since the launch of the 5 bcm per year Swinoujscie terminal in 2015 it has been able to import from the US and other suppliers. With these alternatives at hand, Warsaw does not plan to renew its gas supply contract with Gazprom a er it expires in 2022. A er this point, it will only buy Russian gas on a spot basis.
Selling LNG volumes on to Ukraine will
enable Poland to utilise more of the Swinoujscie terminal’s capacity in the meantime. e facility has already seen increasing use, accounting for 20% of Polish gas imports last year versus 8.5% in 2016, according to PGNiG. Its capacity is set to reach 7.5 bcm per year by 2021.
Poland began supplying gas to Ukraine in August 2016. The only thing preventing the country from exporting greater volumes is limited pipeline capacity at the Ukrainian bor- der, PGNiG president Piotr Wozniak said in a statement.
“We expect the capacity of these gas pipelines tobeexpandedby2021atthelatest,”hesaid.
“ anks to the partnership with our Polish
companion, we are making tangible break-
throughs in building a transatlantic gas supply curb Russian corridor from the USA to Ukraine,” ERU presi-
dent Dale Perry added.
Poland, Ukraine and the US are set to formal-
ise their co-operation in gas supply, with repre-
sentatives from the three countries signing a pact
on August 31 on enhancing gas supply security
in the region. consumption of
“We are interested in diversi cation of gas supply and obviously access to LNG is one of the ways to diversify gas supply,” Oleksandr Dany- lyuk, secretary of Ukraine’s national defence and security council, told Reuters. “ ere is an existing LNG facility in Poland which is being expanded now and we are interested in being able to use it. It is in the interests of Poland, it is in the interests of Ukraine and it is in the interests of the United States as a supplier. I think it is what we call win, win, win.”™
15 bcm per year.
Poland is also anxious to
supply, which currently meets two thirds of its
P10
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 35 05•September•2019