Gazprom has decided against lowering gas supply to Moldova due to gas intended for the country having been being "held back" in Ukraine.
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Officials in Chisinau have said that Moldova, which does not have underground gas storage facilities of its own, is using surplus gas to build its own inventory on the neighboring country's territory. Moreover Moldova says repeatedly that it would like to receive more Russian gas than at present.
However the Russian gas giant said on Monday morning that breaches of payment for current Russian gas supplies to Moldova in November had been remedied and that it had received funds for gas it says has been held back in Ukraine.
Gazprom's overall request for pumping Russian gas through Ukraine today has not changed markedly from the previous days and months.
Gas Transport System Operator of Ukraine, or GTSOU, has accepted a booking from Gazprom today to transport 42.4 million cubic meters of gas through the country, data from GTSOU show.
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.
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 there are no grounds for the force majeure or obstacles to continuing operations as before.
A new challenge for Ukrainian transit was the virtual reverse of gas supply from Moldova to Ukraine or backhauling launched in September. Gazprom has said some Russian gas intended for delivery to Moldovan consumers as per a contract with Moldovagaz has been held back and accumulated in Ukraine as a result.
"If the transit imbalance through Ukraine for Moldovan consumers persists, then, on November 28, at 10:00 a.m., Gazprom will begin cutting gas supplies to the Sudzha metering system for transit through Ukraine in the amount of the daily shortfall," Gazprom said last week.
GTSOU said the nomination for gas supply via the Grebenki and Alexeyevka interconnection points with Moldova was 6 mcm, as previously, for Monday. However unlike the previous day, there was no backhaul nomination at Grebenki on the GTSOU website, a reverse nomination of 4.5 mcm was there. ■
A low pressure wave forming along a cold front will track across the New England coast this morning, bringing a period of rain, heavy at times for much of New England, especially for Maine today.