Page 7 - FSUOGM Week 49 2022

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Gas flow from EU to Ukraine reduced

by nearly 30% in November

UKRAINE THERE was a near 30% decrease in gas flow news outlet Tass.
from the EU to Ukraine last month, Ukraine Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned gas com-
There has been warmer Business News reported on December 5. pany, said last month that it can afford to pur-
weather and Russia Natural gas flow from the bloc to Ukraine chase enough gas after receiving several financial
has been targeting amounted to 228mn cubic metres, 27.7% less injections from Canada, Norway and the Euro-
Ukrainian energy than October’s volume of 315.4 mcm, accord- pean Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-
infrastructure. ing to the Gas Transmission System Operator of ment (EBRD), despite Russia targeting Ukraine’s
Ukraine (GTSOU). Gas supply to underground energy and gas-producing facilities.
gas storage (UGS) facilities also dropped, reach- With Russia increasing attacks on Ukraine’s
ing 191.1 mcm versus 261.9 mcm in October. energy infrastructure, particularly nuclear
Last month, Romania only added 0.3 mcm of power plants (NPPs), the country needs to mix
gas to Ukraine’s GTS from Poland, Slovakia and gas and coal to make up for the energy short-
Hungary. Nevertheless, on December 2, Roma- fall. Ukraine has 1.5mn tonnes of coal in its
nia provided 8.7 mcm from a total of 18.1 mcm. warehouses and Maksym Timchenko, CEO of
The drop in gas flow could be explained by DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private investor in the
Europe experiencing a warm October before energy sector, said in October that the country
temperatures plummeted in November. Europe needs 2-2.5bn cubic metres of gas.
is also rapidly withdrawing gas from its UGS “Mixing coal and gas allows us to have
facilities as electricity produced from wind gen- enough generational capacity for the winter sea-
eration is declining, according to Russian state son,” Timchenko stated. ™

PERFORMANCE

Russian oil output up 2% in November

RUSSIA RUSSIAN oil production was up 2% month on outside the Commonwealth of Independent
month in November, reaching 1.49mn tonnes States fell by 4% in November to 615,000 tonnes
Production is expected per day (10.92mn barrels per day), Kommersant per year, although this was partly offset by a
to decline following the has reported, meaning that production is almost growth in domestic refining throughput of 2%
introduction of the EU at the same level as in February and March, to 785,000 tpy. There is currently no embargo or
embargo, however. despite EU efforts to strangle Russian revenue price cap imposed on Russian refined petroleum
from crude oil exports. products, but they are due to come into force
If current supply is maintained, oil produc- on February 5. BCS GM believes the February
tion will come to 530-535mn tonnes (10.65- restriction could knock out a further 0.5mn bpd
10.74mn bpd), but this is unlikely to be the case, of Russian oil production.
as the EU introduced its embargo on most Rus- Evidence of the market disruption caused
sian oil imports on December 5. On the same by the EU price cap has already come to light,
day, the EU, the G7 and Australia placed a cap with the Financial Times reporting on Decem-
on Russian oil cargoes globally, of $60 per barrel. ber 5 that an oil tanker traffic jam had formed off
Most of the world’s major shipping and insur- the Turkish coast, with authorities demanding
ance companies are situated in either EU or G7 new proof of full insurance coverage for ves-
countries, and they will be banned from provid- sels passing through the Bosphorus and Dar-
ing their services for Russian oil shipments if the danelles straits to and from the Black Sea and
cap is ignored. Mediterranean.
Russia’s government has said that domestic oil Russian gas production was down 11.6%
producers will be prohibited from abiding by the year on year in January through November at
price cap on Russian crude, and that the country 612.9bn cubic metres, Vedomosti reported sep-
could cut production if necessary. Meanwhile, arately, citing energy ministry data. Gazprom led
analysts at Moscow-based brokerage BCS Global the decline, cutting gas flow by 19.4% to 376.9
Markets estimate that Russian oil supply could bcm. Demand in the domestic market was down
tumble by 0.5mn bpd by year-end. 5.7% in the 11-month period, according to Gaz-
Exports via pipeline and tankers to countries prom. ™

Week 49 12•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7