Bloomberg: Ukraine Gas Deadline Heightens Threat of Shrinking Stockpiles

With less than two months before Ukraine’s Russian gas-supply agreement ends, analysts are warning of critically low stockpiles that would threaten all of Europe.

There’s been little progress on a new deal before the March 31 expiry, with Russia saying it will revert to a standard contract based on disputed prices that won’t be reviewed by international arbitrators until 2016. If the supply stops, then Ukraine’s inventories may shrink to the smallest in a decade by Oct. 1, says Eclipse Energy Group, a consultant in Norway.

That raises the risk that Ukraine will need to use Russian gas destined for the European Union next winter, according to Energy Aspects Ltd., a London-based consultant.

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