Europe again taking gas out of storage; Gazprom requests 42.4 mcm for transit via Ukraine
MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - A drop in the temperature has forced European countries to start taking gas out of storage again after five days of inventory growth. Lower wind power generation will also affect the increase in gas consumption.
UKRAINIAN TRANSIT
Gas Transport System Operator of Ukraine, or GTSOU, has accepted a booking from Gazprom today to transport 42.4 million cubic meters of gas through the country, as on Tuesday, data from the GTSOU 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 is supplying Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine at the volume confirmed by the Ukraine side via the Sudzha metering station at 42.4 mcm on March 29, with booking via the Sokhranovka metering station declined," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters.
The published nomination is the highest technically possible for that route, given the restrictions imposed by Ukraine. The GTSOU has declared a force majeure with respect to acceptance of gas for transit through Sokhranovka, claiming that it cannot control the Novopskov compressor station. The route through Sokhranovka had provided transit of more than 30 mcm of gas per day. Gazprom believes that there are no grounds for the force majeure or obstacles to continuing operations as before.
EUROPEAN MARKET
Wind turbines provided 21% of Europe's electricity needs last week, but 16.5% on Tuesday, according to WindEurope.
The day-ahead contract at the Dutch TTF gas hub in the Netherlands closed at $481 per thousand cubic meters, almost unchanged.
The spread between LNG prices in Asia and those in Europe is noticeable. In Asia, the most expensive futures contract for May on the JKM Platts index is $446 per thousand cubic meters, and futures under the LNG North-West Europe Marker are $427 per thousand cubic meters.
EUROPEAN INVENTORIES
Current inventory levels in Europe's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities are 55.89%, which is 22 percentage points above the average for the same date over the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Inventories inched down 0.13 percentage points during the gas day for March 27.
European LNG terminals operated at 63% capacity in February, but 58% since the start of March.
U.S. INVENTORIES
The state of gas in UGS facilities in the United States is of increasing importance for the global market, as the country is actively increasing gas exports.
Inventories decreased 2 billion cubic meters for the latest reporting week, which is 60% less than the usual offtake for this time of the year.
The current level of inventories is around 39%, which is 23 percentage points higher than the five-year average, according to the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration.
Freeport LNG, the largest U.S. LNG plant, has announced reopening all three liquefaction lines, thereby reducing the gas surplus on the U.S. market and boosting supplies of LNG to the global market.