Slovak TSO Offers More Capacity East

Slovakia's gas transmission system operator Eustream is offering additional 30 GW/d of interruptible capacity at the Budince exit point near the border with Ukraine until the end of the year. It is also offering 72.8 GWh/d of interruptible capacity at the Velke Kapusany exit point, also near the Ukraine border, for July 2020. It also said it would consider extending the Velke Kapusany offering on monthly basis for further months.

It told NGW June 15 that unlike Budince, flows through Velke Kapusany were dependent on physical flows from Ukraine, which cannot be determined in advance. "We have offered it as an additional (interruptible) capacity given the capacities at Budince are now sold out," a spokesman said.

Reasons for flowing more gas into Ukraine could include gas storage, as the country has plenty of unused capacity which it has been marketing to foreign traders for the last few years. As more LNG is delivered to Europe, storage facilities in the European Union are filling up fast, with some estimating that there will be no more room after August. Spot prices are at historic lows, while winter prices are at a premium.

Gas flowing through Ukraine to Velke Kapusany comes from Russian exporter Gazprom, and Eustream can offset imports into Ukraine against this volume, but it cannot guarantee a minimum amount of gas on any given day.