MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Gas reserves in underground storage facilities (UGS) in Europe in March are at a record level and reach around 60.5%. At the same time, the total withdrawal from EU underground gas storage facilities since the beginning of the heating season reaches 48 bln cubic meters. Gas on the stock exchange in Europe is traded at about $280 per 1,000 cubic meters. Gazprom supplied gas for Europe through Ukraine in the volume of 42.4 mln cubic meters per day via the Sudzha gas pumping station in Russia’s Kursk Region, a Gazprom representative told reporters.
"Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through Ukrainian territory in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side via the Sudzha gas pumping station of 42.4 mln cubic meters as of March 12. The request for the Sokhranovka gas pumping station has been rejected," a Gazprom representative told reporters.
The transit line through Ukraine remains the only route to supply Russian gas to western and central European countries. The pumping through Nord Stream has been fully suspended.
Since May 2022, when GTSOU announced the suspension of transit to Europe via the Sokhranovka station due to force majeure - the company allegedly cannot exercise control over the Novopskov compressor station in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Russian gas supplies have been flowing through Ukraine in a reduced volume. The Russian gas holding, on the other hand, saw no reason to stop pumping as before.
In the fall of 2022, Naftogaz of Ukraine petitioned the International Court of Arbitration against Gazprom for allegedly late payment for gas transportation services through Ukrainian territory. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller stated that the arbitration proceeding is illegitimate and that the Russian holding's participation in the process is pointless. At the same time, Russia may impose sanctions on Naftogaz if the Ukrainian company continues to engage in dishonest behavior, rendering any future relations with it impossible.
European gas market situation
Gas withdrawals from UGS facilities in EU countries on March 10, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), amounted to 165 mln cubic meters. At the same time, injection amounted to 78 mln cubic meters.
The heating season in Europe started on November 7, 2023 (a week earlier than in the last autumn-winter season), and since that moment the EU countries have withdrawn about 47.92 bln cubic meters from storage of gas. At the same time, the total gas extraction from underground gas storage facilities on the 123rd day after attaining maximum filling is 12% lower than the previous five-year average. The last season of gas withdrawal from European underground storage facilities finished on April 7, 2023, with 55.47% of reserves still in them.
Currently, European UGS facilities are 60.59% full (17.45 percentage points higher than the average for this date over the past five years), they contain 66.88 bln cubic meters of gas. European countries filled their underground storage facilities with gas to the target 90% for the heating season back in mid-August, and by the beginning of the withdrawal season they had accumulated a record 99.63%.
The weather this week in Central and Western Europe is expected to be warmer than during the previous seven-day period. The share of wind power in EU electricity generation in March is 19%.
LNG supplies from terminals to the European gas transmission system have fallen amid the warmer weather. Currently, the regasification capacities of liquefied gas and its further injection into European pipelines are loaded at 51% of the maximum. The average gas purchase price in February in Europe was $288 per 1,000 cubic meters, in March - is around $296.