Gazprom does not book transit capacity via Poland for April, additional transit via Ukraine not offered

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - Gazprom has not booked transit capacity via the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline for March during the booking session, while additional transit capacity via Ukraine was not offered, according to auction information of the GSA Platform.

A total of 89 million cubic meters per day was offered at the auction, though not all capacity was booked.

The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which stretches over 2,000 km, can pump up to 33 billion cubic meters per year. Poland's 683-km section is owned by the EuRoPol Gaz joint venture and is operated by the national gas transmission operator, Gaz-System. Gazprom's long-term contract for transit via the country ended two years ago. Since then, its capacity has been allocated based on auction bookings.

Gazprom is not currently utilizing capacity via the Yamal-Europe pipeline in order to supply gas to Germany. The pipeline pumps Russian gas to Poland, which also receives small volumes of reverse gas from Germany.

The Gas Transmission System (GTS) Operator of Ukraine did not offer additional capacity for transiting Russian gas. In previous months, solid capacity of 15 million cubic meters per day was offered, entering via the Sudzha and Sokhranovka gas-metering stations, respectively. Gazprom has not booked capacity at auctions for these for several months in a row.

Gazprom has a long-term booking for Ukrainian capacity totaling 40 billion cubic meters at 109 million cubic meters per day. The shipper is currently utilizing nearly the entire volume.