Czech Rep reports reduced gas transit: press
Czech gas grid operator Net4Gas has observed an overall reduction in gas transit in the Czech Republic, but has said supplies to the country itself are not being restricted, Reuters reported June 16.
Deliveries to the Czech Republic's leading gas importer, Innogy Ceska Republika, have not been reduced although Czech utility CEZ did witness a drop-off in some of its contractual volumes from Russia's Gazprom. CEZ told Reuters it had replaced the lost Gazprom volumes with gas from other sources.
The drop in transit flow comes after Gazprom on June 14 revealed a 40% reduction in gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline. A further reduction in flow along the pipeline to Germany was announced the following day. The cut was attributed to delays in recovering gas-pumping units at Portovaya compressor station, on the Baltic Sea coast, that had been taken to Siemens for repairs.
Net4Gas transports around 50bn m3 of gas/yr around the Czech Republic, via a gas pipeline network of almost 4,000 km. Last year, the Czech grid sourced around 87% of gas deliveries from Russian suppliers, according to think tank Heinrich Boll Stiftung. CEZ confirmed fulfilling Gazprom's most recent billing request in May, but made the payment in euros, Reuters says. The Czech utility refused to clarify whether Gazprombank accounts were used to convert the payment into rubles, as required under the Kremlin's March 31 decree.
An auction for gas storage requirements at Czech storage facilities in 2022/23 was launched by Net4Gas on May 9. The tender, organised at the instruction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, relates to capacity at the RWE Gas Storage CZ and MND Energy Storage banks. The Czech Republic held 25.1 TWh of gas in storage as of June 14, representing around 70.1% of overall capacity. That puts Prague relatively close to the 80% requirement established under the EU's energy security directive, which must be met by all EU member states by November 1.