The main gas supplier to Europe screws the valve

In Norway, the next stage of preventive maintenance work at the fields begins and exports from the country are significantly reduced. For Europe, the traditional repair season in the North Sea is coming at a very bad time. A month before the end of the injection season, storage stocks remain low and now the growing LNG imports will not so much increase the injection as compensate for the Norwegian decline. The price of gas in Europe in the first half of August 31 is $ 851.

Norway has started to reduce gas exports. If the average deliveries in August, according to the operator Gassco, amount to 317 million cubic meters, then on August 30 they were reduced to 280 million cubic meters, and on August 31 — to 287 million cubic meters. This is the lowest level since June.

The Norwegian operator publishes reports that several projects are being repaired at once and this affects in August and will affect in September deliveries in the amount of approximately 100 million cubic meters per day.

For European storage facilities, whose reserves lag behind last year's figures by 14 billion cubic meters or more than 12%, this is not very good news.

Last September, according to Gassco, the average level of exports from Norway dropped to 257 million cubic meters per day.

GIE data show that Europe is trying to compensate for the Norwegian decline with increased LNG imports. Over the past six days, imports have grown to 322 million cubic meters per day. However, the average level for August is 285 million and the difference will only be able to compensate for a decrease in purchases from Norway. In part, the market will also benefit from the departure of the sweltering heat from Europe, which will affect demand.

Meanwhile, the problem of gas reserves for Europe has not gone away and directly hits the pockets of traders and consumers. In the first half of the day, gas supplies for a month ahead from the TTF exchange were trading at $ 851 per thousand cubic meters — more than twice as expensive as a year ago.

As EADaily reported, European companies began to increase gas imports in order to reverse the situation with low reserves. However, they do it belatedly. The injection season is nearing completion, while the previous policy of most countries The EU did not provoke prices in the conditions of the Iranian war and did not accelerate the pumping earlier went sideways. Compared to last year, Europe will overpay tens of billions of dollars for imported gas and the Iranian crisis will be only one of the reasons.

The difference between current European storage stocks and last year's figures is starting to shrink, according to GIE. So, by August 27 in the UGS The EU has accumulated 68.7 billion cubic meters and the difference has decreased by 200 million cubic meters in 10 days — up to 14 billion cubic meters.

However, the average rate of 321 million cubic meters per day, taken over the past seven days, will not solve the problem dramatically. By October, the storage facilities will be able to replenish by 11.2 billion cubic meters in this way, and the storage facilities will be suitable for the heating season with a filling of 75%. With such reserves, the European Union will pass the winter, but the question remains — at what price, since the region will have to compete with Asia in case of frost. Analysts told Montel that the price could rise to $1,200.