Europe, U.S. slowing pace of gas injection into storage, Gazprom transit request via Ukraine at 42.5 bcm
MOSCOW. Sept 9 (Interfax) - Europe is steadily increasing gas offtake from its underground storage facilities, which have been filled only to the minimum target level, and the ratio of offtake to injection already reached 22% on September 7.
The amount of gas injected into U.S. underground storage has also declined.
The request for transit of Russian gas through Ukraine on Wednesday was little changed from previous days and months.
Ukrainian transit
Ukraine's Gas Transmission System Operator (GTSOU) has accepted a request from Gazprom for Friday to transport 42.5 million cubic meters of gas through the country, about the same as the previous day, data from OGTSU show.
Capacity was requested only through one of two entry points into Ukraine's Gas Transport System, the Sudzha metering station. A request was not accepted through the Sokhranovka metering station.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters that the company is "feeding Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the amount confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha metering station - 42.5 mcm for September 9." The request for Sokhranovka was "declined," he said.
OGTSU declared a force majeure in regard to accepting gas for transit through Sokhranovka, claiming that it cannot control the Novopskov compressor station. The route through Sokhranovka provided transit of more than 30 mcm of gas per day.
Gazprom believes there are no grounds for a force majeure or obstacles to continuing operations as before.
European market
The Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Europe was unable to restart as planned after three days of maintenance at the beginning of September, as oil leaks were found in Siemens turbines and this problem can only be fixed with factory repairs, Gazprom said. The Siemens turbines can only be repaired at a plant in Montreal, but Canada has imposed sanctions against the Russian gas giant.
"Siemens currently has virtually no ability to carry out regular overhauls of our gas pumping units. Siemens simply has nowhere to do this work," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said.
Spot prices for gas in Europe are static at $2,177 per 1,000 cubic meters (day-ahead contract) on the TTF hub in the Netherlands, while prices in Asia rose. The highest priced winter futures, for January, on the JKM Platts (Japan Korea Marker) index, which reflects spot market prices for gas delivered to Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, climbed to $1,931.
Wind power's contribution to electricity generation across the EU averaged 13% in the first three days of this week, compared to an average of 11% last week and 9.6% in September 2021, data from WindEurope show.
European liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals are operating at an average of 60% of capacity in September compared to 59% in August, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed. Imports of expensive LNG are decreasing, in part due to the gradual achievement of the necessary reserve level in European storage.
Gas reserves in Europe
Europe is continuing to inject gas into underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, the average level of reserves in which reached the targeted 80% of capacity at the end of August. After the target was reached there was some reduction in the rate of injection.
The average level of gas reserves in UGS in Europe rose by 0.23 percentage points on the last reporting date, September 7, to 82.77% of capacity, Gas Infrastructure Europe reported. The daily increase was the lowest this month. Meanwhile, gas offtake from UGS is growing and reached its highest figure this month on September 7. In Germany, offtake is at a 10-week high.
Reserves in storage have now surpassed the target level of 80% in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
Meanwhile, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Latvia are lagging, with the latter in the rear with 50%; Latvia resumed injecting gas into storage at the beginning of September.
Gas reserves in the U.S.
In the United States, steady gas exports are reducing the amount of resources for injection into storage, which is supporting prices on the domestic market.
Current reserves in the country's UGS facilities are only 4.1% above the lowest figure in the past five years, and this figure has only fallen in the summer injection season, data from the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration showed.
The rate of injection into U.S. UGS improved somewhat after exports through the Freeport LNG terminal were suspended due to an accident, but the current level of reserves is 11% lower than the five-year average.
The rate of injection declined to 1.5 bcm in the last reporting week from 1.7 bcm in the previous two weeks. The current level of reserves in storage amounts to 67% of capacity, well below figures in Europe, where the EU surpassed this level six weeks ago, and far below Russia with 90%.