Page 115 - RusRPTNov21

claims that the company is subject to unlawful discrimination in connection with this directive. Among the main provisions of the directive is the separation of companies that supply gas and companies that transport it. This means that the Nord Stream-2 operator must be independent of Gazprom, and 50% of its capacity must be reserved for alternative suppliers. Exceptions are possible, but only with the approval of the European Commission.
Gazprom to fill its European underground storage after 8 November.
Gazprom plans to continue to fill underground storage in Russia until Monday, 8 November, due to the declared non-working days, CEO Alexey Miller said yesterday, 27 October, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Interfax reported. After 8 November, Gazprom could fill underground storage in Europe (Austria and Germany). Gazprom previously aimed to fill underground storage to 72.638bcm by Monday, 1 November.
Mr. Miller noted that the volumes of gas in Gazprom’s storage in Europe are not significant at slightly less than 190mn m3. Gazprom’s storage in Germany is 71% full, according to GIE data, while one of its co-owned sites, Rehden, is just 9.5% full, Bloomberg reported.
The news caused the Day-Ahead gas price in Europe to move to $1,026/mcm, and it is down c. 8% vs. the price on Monday, 25 October. We recently updated our forecast for exports to Europe and Turkey to 186bcm for the year, implying a pick-up in exports in November and December. Adjusting for non-working days and keeping export flow rates until 8 November, our forecast comes down to 184bcm, just ahead of the company’s guidance of 183bcm. To us, the announcement that Gazprom does not plan to focus on filling underground storage in Europe until 8 November might not be taken positively by Europe, as it could be seen as another example of Gazprom prioritizing storage levels in Russia.
Gazprom and Moldova have agreed to sign a five-year gas supply contract. Gas supplies under the new contract will begin on 1 November; the volume, according to Kommersant, will grow to 3.3bcm/y. An agreement was also reached on the price formula and the audit of the old debt formed by Moldovagaz. Under the new agreement, in 1Q and 4Q, the country is to buy 70% of volumes linked to oil prices and 30% gas spot prices per the newspaper. In 2Q and 3Q, 30% of the price will be oil-linked and 70% at gas spot prices.
The physical flow through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline at the entrance to the German gas transportation system fell to zero in the direction from east to west on 30 October, according to Interfax. Moreover, the gas pipeline has switched to reverse mode, according to the data of the German gas transportation operator Gascade, per media reports. The Gazprom press service reported that the gas requests of European consumers are being fulfilled in full.
Gazprom production is up even as Europe begins storage withdrawals. Interfax reported. October production at 1.4bcm/d on domestic demand, 93% capacity.
With temperatures down 3°C vs 2020 levels, Russia has experienced
115 RUSSIA Country Report November 2021 www.intellinews.com