Ukraine Seeking Gas for Under $200 per 1,000 Cubic Metres
Ukraine is seeking to import gas from Western Europe at a price under $200 per 1,000 cubic metres ($5.5 MMbtu) from next year, the Russian news agency Tass reports. The report cited Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who said, "We expect the price from western partners [to be] below $200. The pricing environment will further decline."
Earlier in the year, Ukraine's Finance Minister, Natalie Jaresko, predicted the average natural gas price in the country in 2016 to be $225 per 1,000 cubic metres.
Ukraine negotiates with a few energy company to bring natural gas to the country, in order to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. This week the International Finance Corporation (IFC), from the World Bank Group, announced it will provide a $200 million facility in order to facilitate gas import to Ukraine from the West.
According to Ukraine's Energy and Industry Minister, Volodymyr Demchyshyn, the IFC would extend loans to other energy traders, like Gaz de France and RWE in order to supply Ukraine with gas. The traders, according to the minister, would take the gas on their balance sheets, store it, and supply it to Ukraine when demand requires.
In July 2014, at the height of the Crimean Crisis, Ukraine imported gas from Western Europe, and particularly from Germany for $370 per 1,000 cubic metres. Earlier in the 2014, the country had paid $273 per million cubic metres for gas from Russia.
This week Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the gas price to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2016 would be around $230 per 1,000 cubic metres. "The price is set in line with the contract, using a formula, and there are no changes here," Mr. Novak was quoted as saying in a TV interview by Sputnik, an English language Russian website. Last month Mr. Novak said that during Q4 2015 Ukraine paid $248-$252 per 1,000 cubic metres.
Earlier this month Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatseniuk said that Ukraine would buy up to 8 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Poland when an inter-connector from Poland's new LNG terminal to Ukraine is built.
Ya'acov Zalel