Greece and Germany want to boost reverse gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, FT says
Germany and Greece are poised to send more gas to Poland and Bulgaria after Russia’s Gazprom halted supplies this week, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing market and port data.
According to data posted by the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator, orders for gas to flow through the pipeline at Sidirokastro, a border-crossing point between Greece and Bulgaria, jumped on Thursday, with higher volumes to exit towards Bulgaria than for those heading south to Greece.
The head of gas analytics at ICIS, Tom Marzec-Manser, told FT that such activity indicates that Greek gas company DEPA is engaging in swaps to sell its gas to Bulgaria.
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Data from Germany’s gas transmission operator Gascade also showed increased flows of gas at Mallnow, the key border crossing point between Germany and Poland for the Yamal-Europe pipeline. The flow increased to 12.7 million kilowatt hours per hour on Thursday. Prior to that, the highest level this month was just below nine million kWh/h.
Meanwhile, the increased flows threaten to further exacerbate the already difficult situation with German underground gas storage facilities which are supposed to be at least 80% full by the start of the offtake season in the fall. According to Gazprom, the “restoration of gas reserves in European storage facilities is a very serious challenge.”
On Wednesday, the Russian energy giant announced a complete halt in gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland after the two countries refused to make payments in rubles. According to Gazprom, supplies will not resume until Sofia and Warsaw comply with the new terms.
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The Russian gas producer has also warned that if either country diverted supplies transiting to other European countries, it would reduce volumes commensurately.
