MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. The rate of gas injection into underground storage facilities (UGS) in Europe fell to its lowest level since 2011, and withdrawal in September, on the contrary, was at a record level.
At the same time, the total accumulated gas reserves in the EU are approaching 94.4%, but stay below the historical maximum for this period of time. Gas on the stock exchange in Europe is traded at around $420 per 1,000 cubic meters amid ongoing strikes at Chevron LNG plants in Australia. Gazprom supplies gas to Europe in transit through Ukraine in the amount of 42.4 mln cubic meters per day through Sudzha gas pumping station.
"Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the amount confirmed by the Ukrainian side via the Sudzha gas pumping station, [amounting to] 42.4 mln cubic meters on September 21. The application for deliveries through Sokhanovka was rejected," the company’s representative said.
The day before, the pumping volume also reached 42.4 mln cubic meters.
On May 10, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine said it would shut down gas transit to Europe via the Sokhranovka station starting May 11 due to force majeure as the company allegedly could not control the Novopskov gas compressor station in the Lugansk Region. As a result, transportation requests would be rejected, and gas wouldn’t be accepted.
However, the Russian gas holding did not see any grounds for the suspension of pumping under the previous arrangement, noting that it did not receive any confirmation of any force majeure circumstances. The company added that it was technically impossible to shift all transit volumes to another interconnection point, the Sudzha gas distribution station in Russia’s Kursk Region.
European gas market situation
Gas withdrawal from UGS facilities in the EU countries on September 19, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), amounted to 55 mln cubic meters. At the same time, the injection volume amounted to 155 mln cubic meters.
UGS facilities in Europe are currently filled to 94.34% (which is 9 p.p. higher than the average for this date over the past five years), they contain about 103.87 bln cubic meters of gas.
If present gas injection rates are maintained, Europe might meet the next critical target of 95% by the end of September. On October 28, 2019, the absolute maximum occupancy of EU underground gas storage facilities was 97.86%. Under favorable circumstances, this record could be broken this year in the second half of October.
Temperatures in Central and Western Europe will fluctuate this week. If the start of the week is forecast to be fairly warm, a noticeable cooling to the level of the climate norm is expected by the weekend. In September, the share of wind power in EU electricity output fell to 12%.
Supplies of LNG from terminals into Europe's gas transmission system remain at all-time highs. The capacity for liquefied gas regasification and injection into European pipelines is now at 46% of its maximum. At the same time, strikes at Chevron LNG plants in Australia continue, where workers and business management continue to disagree on compensation and working conditions. In August, the average gas purchase price in Europe was $396 per 1,000 cubic meters, and in September, it reached $388.