Russia Tightens Gas Grip as It Rejects Extra Ukraine Transit
Russia again tightened its grip on Europe’s natural gas supply, rejecting an offer from Ukraine to book more transit capacity to compensate for reduced flows through a key pipeline to Germany.
- Gazprom hasn’t booked extra Ukraine pipeline capacity for July
- Russian gas flows could remain tight amid Nord Stream curbs
Russia’s opted not to reserve extra space to ship gas to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines for July at an auction on Monday, show. It’s another sign that supplies from Moscow may remain curbed for longer after the nation cut fuel shipments through the Nord Stream pipeline, its biggest gas route to the , to just 40% of its capacity.
The squeeze caused gas prices to surge, adding pressure to EU member states already battling with surging inflation. Germany has called Russia’s supply cuts and not due to technical issues, as Gazprom stated.
Gas supply next month could be even tighter as the Nord Stream pipeline is scheduled for a complete shutdown for due to annual works. Ukraine has on numerous occasions to increase flows via the Sudzha cross-border point between the countries to ramp up supply to Europe. The Russian company can still book additional space via that route through daily capacity auctions, an option it hasn’t used so far this month.
Gazprom declined to comment on auction results, while the Ukrainian gas grid called that a political move.
It’s “an additional argument proving that actually Gazprom and the Kremlin are using gas as a weapon against Ukraine and mainly against Europe,” Sergiy Makogon, head of Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operator, said by phone on Monday. “We can significantly increase transit.”
Gazprom can supply 77.2 million cubic meters of gas per day via Sudzha under its transit contract with Ukraine but it’s keeping about 42 million cubic meters. At the auction on Monday, Ukraine’s since the invasion in February, Kyiv offered an additional daily capacity of 15 million cubic meters for July.
Extra volumes sent via Sudzha, including the offered pipeline space, could have replaced half of the lost Nord Stream capacity, which is about 100 million cubic meters per day.
