Gas supplies to western Europe have slowly been restored to
normal levels after a dispute between Russia and Ukraine caused
deliveries to drop at the start of the new year, company and
government officials said Jan 3.
Russia's Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine after Kiev refused to
agree to a large jump in prices from Jan 1, causing a knock-on
effect on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to a number of
European countries.
"We are compensating for the stolen gas with our own resources,
but it cannot last forever, sooner or later Ukraine will have to
pay for it," --Sergei Kupriyanov, Gazprom spokesman
The CEO of Italian oil and gas company Eni, Paolo Scaroni, said
on local television that supplies had dropped by 24% on Jan 2, while
France's main gas supplier Gaz de France also noted that 25-30% less
gas had arrived from eastern suppliers.
Supplies to Germany, which imports about 35% of its of 100-bil cu
m/yr of gas demand from Russia, were not affected.
Ukraine said on Jan 3 that supplies from Russia to Europe through
its territory had been restored completely.
Gazprom said on Jan 3 that Ukraine was continuing to steal its
gas, a charge Ukraine has denied, but that it was sending additional
volumes to ensure supplies reach European customers.
"We are compensating for the stolen gas with our own resources,
but it cannot last forever, sooner or later Ukraine will have to pay
for it," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters in
Moscow.
Russia says Ukraine still
stealing gas
Gazprom now believes that Ukraine stole some 104.8-mil cu m on
Jan 1, the first day after supplies were cut, up from a previous
estimate of 95-mil cu m. Preliminary estimates suggest that a
further 118.7-mil cu m of gas was stolen by Ukraine on the second
day of the dispute, Kupriyanov said.
Gazprom said on Jan 2 that it would ship an additional 95-mil cu
m/day of gas to ensure supplies reached its European customers.
"Gazprom is fully meeting its liabilities on gas supplies to Europe,
while Ukraine is breaking its liabilities," Kupriyanov said.
Italy's industry minister, Claudio Scajola, has called an
emergency meeting for Jan 3 to assess the situation, but moved to
calm fears with a statement saying that there would be no shortages
in the country.
Michael Glos, German economics minister, said there had been no
need for concern, since German gas storage could cover about 70 days
of demand.
Austria, which imports 59% of its gas from Russia, covered the
lower supplies from its storage facilities. OMV, Austria's main gas
company, said relatively mild weather had meant lower demand anyway
for gas. OMV's own supplies cover about 15% of the country's gas
demand.
The standoff between Ukraine and Russia, however, highlighted the
particular importance of the construction of the North European gas
pipeline from Russia directly to Germany, gas company Wingas said in
a statement on its website. The project will make Germany and Europe
on the whole "independent of political and economic instability in
transit countries," the statement said. Wingas is one of the biggest
importers of Russian gas to Germany.
Gazprom has been a reliable partner to Germany, supplying the
country and Western Europe with gas without fail for many years,
including during the Cold War period. The statement from Wingas, a
joint venture between Germany's Wintershall and Gazprom, said most
Russian gas was supplied through pipelines going across Belarus and
Poland.
Germany imports 24% of its gas from Norway, 19% from the
Netherlands and 6% from Great Britain. Sixteen percent of gas
consumed in Germany is produced in the country itself. Within two
months it can do without foreign supplies, relying on reserves of
its gas storages.
Poland looks to diversify
Poland, another country that saw its supplies fall as a result of
the Russia-Ukraine dispute, said on Jan 3 that it planned to become
less dependent on Russian gas for its energy needs.
Poland has already started talks with unspecified countries to
get new sources of supplies, Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz
Marcinkiewicz said.
"We have started talks with the North and East but not with
Russia," Marcinkiewicz said. "We will start construction of a gas
port [on the Baltic Sea] to get LNG," he said.
"The situation will become healthy when Russia ceases to be a gas
monopolist in delivery of gas and oil [to Poland]," he added. "The
diversification will not deteriorate relations with Russia."
Deputy Economy Minister Piotr Naimski said late on Jan 2 that
Poland had already started talks with Norway to consider the renewal
of a gas contract that was dropped by the former Polish government.
"It [the renewal] may even take place in 2006," Naimski said.
Created on: Jan 3, 2006
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