Ukraine Warns of Gazprom Pipe Pressure Drop
Russian gas exporter Gazprom has again been underdelivering gas to Sudzha gas metering station on the Ukraine border, Naftogaz Ukrainy said October 26, causing the pressure to drop below the contract minimum. That adds up to 259 days of violations, or 88% of the time (see graph).
(Source: Naftogaz Ukrainy)
As a responsible transit partner for the EU, Naftogaz continues to ensure secure transmission of gas volumes expected by European customers despite the pressure deficiencies on the Russian side, it said, adding: "However, recent incidents on Russia’s trunk pipelines and Gazprom’s inability to maintain the contract pressure are raising concerns regarding the security of gas supplies from Russia for transit this winter."
The European Commission's monitoring group is kept aware of all of these deviations, Naftogaz said.
Last week for example a major pipeline exploded in the Moscow region. It was soon extinguished but the news did not appear on Gazprom's website. Nor has Gazprom offered any explanation for the pressure drops on its website.
This year, Russian gas transit through Ukraine has hit a nine-year high. Naftogaz transported over 70bn m³ (+23%) of Russian gas to EU countries and Moldova through Ukraine over the first nine months of 2017. In 2016, 46% of Russian gas exports to the EU and Turkey were transited via Ukraine, Naftogaz said.
Ukraine does not import gas from Russia directly but some of the transit volumes are redirected to Ukraine at the Polish, Slovak and other border points, thereby also inflating the apparent size of Russian exports to the European Union.
William Powell