Ukraine's Naftogaz has doubled gas imports from Russia since the beginning of May, Ukrainian gas pipeline operator Ukrtransgaz said.
If in the last ten days of April Naftogaz was receiving on average 11 million cubic meters of gas a day, it imported 18-20 mcm a day in the first three days of May. Interfax calculates that as of Tuesday morning, Naftogaz had just under 100 mcm of prepaid gas left to receive from Gazprom.
Gazprom itself has boosted gas transit via Ukraine’s Uzhgorod corridor, which the Russian gas giant dislikes but which was once the main outlet for Russian gas exports. According to Slovakia’s gas pipeline operator Eustream, this pipeline was used to pump 117 mcm a day in the last week of April, before rising to 126 mcm a day, going by both actual supplies and nominations for May 4 and 5.
The jump in supplies came a day after Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller held a meeting with his long-standing ally, Wintershall CEO Rainer Seele. Gas supplies also went up abruptly on March 5, after the previous meeting between the two.
A source with knowledge of the situation told Interfax there was a direct link between the meeting and the growth in gas supplies to Europe.
Gazprom said in a press release that Miller and Seele discussed “Russian gas supplies to European consumers.” It was mentioned that direct gas transportation routes, among them Nord Stream, are playing an important role in making exports more reliable, Gazprom said. In this context, the sides “emphasized the importance of gaining full access to the transit capacities of the OPAL gas pipeline,” it said.
Miller’s previous meeting with Seele on March 5 put an end to six months of restrictions on Russian gas supplies to Europe in a bid to halt reverse gas supplies from Europe to Ukraine. The restrictions are thought to have cost Gazprom up to $6 billion in lost revenue and discounts or penalties for shortfalls in gas supplies requested by customers.
Interfax understands that on March 5, Seele requested an increase in supplies to gas trading joint venture Wingas, which would otherwise have found itself in a difficult financial situation.
BASF said in a financial report on April 30 that Wingas made a profit in Q1 2015, compared with losses a year previously. The report also said the price terms for the joint venture’s gas suppliers, among them Gazprom, had improved.
