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Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz has warned Gazprom’s continued violation of technical requirements in their natural gas transit contract is raising concerns regarding the security of gas supplies to flow to Europe this winter.
The company said last week the Russian gas firm is failing to maintain gas pressure in Russian trunk pipelines at the Sudzha entry point located on the Ukraine-Russia border. The contract requirement is 60-65 kgs sq. cm. current pressure is 55.8 kgs sq. cm. Naftogaz noted.
Naftogaz continues to ensure secure transmission of gas volumes expected by European customers despite the pressure deficiencies on the Russian side.
“However. recent incidents on Russia’s trunk pipelines and Gazprom’s inability to maintain the contract pressure are raising concerns regarding the security of gas supplies from Russia for transit this winter.“ it warned.
Based on data from the Ukrainian gas network operator. Ukrtransgaz. the pressure has been lower than agreed 88% of the time. so far this year. The European Commission’s permanent monitoring group is in constant contact with Ukrtransgaz and receives continuous gas flows and pressure data.
In terms of gas supplies. Naftogaz said it transported over 70 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of Russian gas to Europe and Moldova in the first nine months of the year. The volume is 23% higher than the volume transported in the same period in 2016. Overall. 46% of Russian gas exports to Europe and Turkey were transited via Ukraine last year.
At the same time. Gazprom said it has examined the operational readiness of the Unified Gas Supply System (UGSS) facilities for peak loads in late 2017-early 2018 and addressed measures needed to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to Russian and foreign consumers.
The firm didn’t directly respond to Naftogaz’s concerns. but said maintaining high reliability of gas supply. especially in times of increased winter demand. was a “top priority“ for Gazprom.
