"Stop" unexpectedly! Russia suspends the supply of natural gas from key pipelines, and European natural gas prices may hit new highs
Last week, Putin instructed Gazprom to increase natural gas inventories in Europe, and European natural gas prices fell by more than 4%.
But within a few days, an important Russian pipeline stopped supplying natural gas to Germany without warning, and the European market was full of tension.
This important pipeline is the Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through Poland. You must know that this pipeline is an important pipeline for Russia to transport natural gas to Germany, with an annual production capacity of 33 billion cubic meters, and it suddenly stopped supplying it.
What was the reason for the sudden suspension of confessions?
According to the German Gascade natural gas pipeline operator, the amount of natural gas transported from Poland to Germany via the Yamal-Europe pipeline dropped to zero for a while, and gas transport from the east was completely stopped.
The Russian gas giant Gazprom stated that the reason for the suspension was that all European gas transportation orders had been completed. The company also stated that in addition to the pipeline, Russia is also sending natural gas to Western Europe through several different routes.
But surprisingly, the pipeline not only did not carry the pipeline westward, but reversed flow.
According to local Russian media reports, reverse transportation is a short-term problem caused by the warmer weather in Germany over the weekend. It is reported that the temperature near the German capital Berlin has remained above 10 degrees Celsius in recent days.
Gaz-System said that the Yamal pipeline adopts a "reverse mode", transporting natural gas from west to east through Kondratki in the east and Malnow compression station in the west.
A spokesperson for Polish gas operator Gaz-System said in an email that “there is currently no demand for gas delivery to Germany.”
Another analysis said that the short supply may also be related to the dispute over the Beixi No. 2 pipeline.
Putin’s speech last week made it clear that without Beixi 2, there would be no excess natural gas flowing into Europe, but Europe continues to postpone the final certification of the pipeline. The Green Party, which may participate in the organization of the next German coalition government, threatened to postpone project certification until the spring of 2022.
At the same time, said that although Gazprom said it is meeting the requirements of European customers, and the fluctuations in the demand for Russian natural gas depend on actual demand, Europe may obtain less natural gas.、
As a result, natural gas prices may hit new highs.
The International Energy Agency and some European parliamentarians accused Gazprom of not doing enough to increase the supply of natural gas to Europe, and the company said it has been fulfilling its contractual obligations.
It is worth mentioning that Russia has lowered its natural gas reservations, which has intensified market tensions.
The gas transport agreement between Russia and Poland expired last year, but Gazprom can still book transport capacity through the auction pipeline.
However, in the last auction, Gazprom booked about 32 million cubic meters per day, which accounted for only 35% of the total additional capacity provided by the Polish operator Gaz-System through the Kondratki transfer station in November.
Although Putin's statement last week alleviated market concerns, news of a sharp drop in bookings led to a surge in European natural gas prices.
Some professionals analyzed that if the volume of transmission through the Yamal-Europe pipeline does not recover, it is expected that European natural gas prices will hit a record high in the next few days.
