Page 45 - RusRPTJul22

Deliveries to Europe via Ukraine slumped to 9 bcm from 14 bcm between January and April this year compared with the same period a year earlier.
Gazprom was transiting the maximum allowed volumes of about 109 mcm per day for two months after the war in Ukraine started in February, and used the reserved capacity in full until the end of March 2022.
Europe has been replenishing its storage tanks at the fastest rate in many years. At the end of winter Brussels ordered that the tanks be 90% full by the start of the heating season, just as the debate on shutting off Russian gas deliveries to Europe completely was gathering steam. That goal was later revised down to 80%, but the pace has been relentless.
The fast pace has been fed by record deliveries of LNG to Europe. The US made 15 bcm available and has diverted some of its deliveries from Asia to ensure that its allies in Europe have enough gas before the winter.
LNG supplies from terminals to Europe’s gas transport system in May hit a record high for the month, reaching 10.8 bcm, which exceeds the previous record of 10.27 bcm of May 2020. LNG reserves in EU states are 13% higher now than in 2021, and 12% higher than a five-year average.
The Grain LNG terminal in the UK, the largest in Europe and eight-largest in the world, posted record gas send-out levels in April, as high demand for gas from Europe pushed utilisation rates up, with LNG tankers arriving from eight new countries since January. The terminal saw its highest ever utilisation rate in April, sending out an average of 431 GWh per day, more than the previous high of 412.2 GWh in April 2021, reports bne IntelliNews’ sister publication Newsbase.com.
Total LNG deliveries to Europe’s gas transport system have reached around 52.45 bcm year-to-date. To compare, Gazprom exported 61 bcm of gas to non-CIS states (including China) in the same period.
And Europe’s LNG capacity will only grow. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a raft of new LNG import projects have been proposed across Europe, while a number of pre-invasion projects that once were considered to have a questionable economic case are now moving forward swiftly.
The flood of gas entering Europe has also taken the pressure off prices which soared 20-fold during the worst of the European gas crisis that started last summer.
However, LNG deliveries to Europe from the US will likely slow following an explosion at the US Freeport terminal in Texas this
45 RUSSIA Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com