Gas Transport System Operator of Ukraine, or GTSOU, has accepted a nomination from Russia's Gazprom to transport 40.2 million cubic meters of gas through the country, up from 40 mcm on Sunday, data from GTSOU show.
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Capacity was requested only through one of two entry points into Ukraine's Gas Transport System, the Sudzha metering station. A request was not accepted through the Sokhranovka metering station.
"Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine at the volume confirmed by the Ukraine side via the Sudzha metering station at 40.2 mcm on July 24, with booking via the Sokhranovka metering station declined," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters.
GTSOU has declared a force majeure with respect to acceptance of gas for transit through Sokhranovka, claiming that it cannot control the Novopskov compressor station.
The route through Sokhranovka had provided transit of more than 30 mcm of gas per day. Gazprom believes that there are no grounds for the force majeure or obstacles to continuing operations as before.
European Market
Wind power generation in Europe remained at its recent lows on Friday, with wind turbines generating 8.1% of Europe's electricity, according to WindEurope data. Wind generation has averaged at around 14% so far this month.
The spot price for gas in Europe fell 2% on Friday: the day-ahead contract at the TTF gas hub in the Netherlands closed at $315 per thousand cubic meters.
The spread between LNG prices in Asia and those in Europe is widening. In Asia, the most expensive futures contract for September on the JKM Platts index is $389 per thousand cubic meters, and futures under the LNG North-West Europe Marker are $316 per thousand cubic meters.
European Inventories
Europe continues to pump gas into storage. Current inventory levels in Europe's underground gas storage facilities are 83.36%, which is 15 percentage points above the average for the same date over the past five years, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
Inventories rose 0.34 percentage points during the July 22 gas day. Injection rates are still markedly less than the five-year average, but it will be possible to achieve the target level of 90% by the end of September if these rates are sustained throughout the summer.
European LNG terminals operated at 63% capacity in June and 58% since the start of July.
U.S. inventories
Gas inventories in UGS facilities in the United States are of increasing importance for the global market, as the country is actively increasing gas exports. Freeport LNG, the largest U.S. LNG plant, has restarted all three liquefaction trains, thereby reducing the gas surplus on the U.S. market and boosting LNG supply to the global market.
The U.S. gas injection season continues. Inventories increased 1.2 billion cubic meters for the latest reporting week, which is slightly below the norm for this time of year.
The current level of inventories is 62%, which is 14 percentage points above the five-year average, according to the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. ■