Ukraine orders more gas from Slovakia due to frosts
Ukraine has filed an application for an increased gas supply from Slovakia in the amount of 37.04 million cubic meters (mcm) for January 20.
The order for January 1-5 was 18.8 mcm per day, whereas it was between 11.4 mcm and 13.5 mcm for January 6-13, and it grew to 26.7-27.6 mcm for January 14-15, and further to 22.7-33.8 mcm for January 16-18, according to Slovakia's gas transport system operator Eustream.
Ukrainian gas transport system operator PJSC Ukrtransgaz reported in turn that the amount of gas taken from the country's gas storage facilities grew to 90.5 mcm on January 18 compared to 71.3-75.9 mcm on January 14-17.
Ukraine had 12.157 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in underground storage facilities as of January 18, 2016, whereas gas stocks stored underground as of January 15, 2015, stood at 10.081 bcm.
Ukrtransgaz also reported an increase in natural gas transit shipments via the Ukrainian gas transport system: 3.7 bcm was pumped on January 1-18, 2016, which was 1.4 times up on the same period last year (2.6 bcm). Daily transit shipments via Ukraine as of Wednesday morning stood at 217 mcm, which was 1.6 times year-over-year.
As was reported, Ukraine daily imported from 29.7 mcm to 41.2 mcm from Slovakia on January 1-31, 2015.
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy contracted 1.7 bcm of European gas for December 2015-March 2016, having agreed to buy it from Noble Clean Fuels Limited, Engie SA, Axpo Trading AG, E.ON Global Commodities SE and Eni Trading & Shipping SpA for funds lent by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Following tenders, the price of the contracted gas was fixed between $188 and $211 per 1,000 cubic meters.
At the same time, the price of Russian gas which Russia's OAO Gazprom offers Ukraine for the first quarter of 2016 is about $212 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said earlier that the diversification of gas supplies and gas shipments from Europe had let Ukraine switch to the commercial format of gas purchases from Russia, which now depend on the offered price.
