[Premium] German Court Publishes Opal Capacity Decision

The Dusseldorf higher regional court told NGW  July 28 it has followed the July 21 decision of the European General Court (part of the European Court of Justice) and removed the interim order on Gazprom's capacity booking in Opal, a 35bn m³/yr gas line that runs from northern Germany – Nord Stream landfall – to the Germany-Czech Republic border.

The situation is therefore as it was between October and December last year, when the ceiling of 50% was removed and Gazprom was allowed to use up to 90% of Opal and hence more of the 55bn m³/yr Nord Stream line.

However the lifting is not permanent and it was expected by the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, Polish state oil and gas company PGNiG: it merely reflects PGNiG's inability to demonstrate that the higher ceiling would otherwise cause the company irreparable damage. A final decision is still a few years away.

Naftogaz Ukrainy is also suing the EC at the ECJ, on the same grounds as PGNiG: that the EC acted in contravention of its own directives, laws and treaties by approving last October the settlement reached by Gazprom and the German networks regulator BundesnetzAgentur, whereby Gazprom could use nearly all of Opal.

The German court told NGW that the parties were notified of the decision late July 27, ahead of publication. The decision means Gazprom may ship more gas through Nord Stream and less through Ukraine: shipping gas through Ukraine costs Gazprom transit fees, while the Nord Stream line is mostly its own asset. Gazprom shipped a lot of gas through Ukraine in the first half of this year.

Gazprom has missed the chance to book capacity on the Prisma platform for the whole of August as the deadline has now passed, but it may book day-ahead capacity and then book monthly capacity for September some time next month.

William Powell