Russian gas flows into Europe plunge in January amid Ukraine tensions

Moscow, February 4 - Neftegaz.RU. Russian pipeline exports to Europe in January via its four main corridors - Nord Stream, Yamal-Europe, Ukraine and the Turkish Stream string to Europe - totaled just 7.1 Bcm, the data showed.

Deliveries were down across the board, with even the 1^st Nord Stream system flowing below capacity, and came as tensions intensified between Moscow and the West over the build-up of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border.

A significant factor in the lower flows was the continued use in January of the Yamal pipeline in reverse mode eastward from Germany to Poland, resulting in a dramatic fall in Russian deliveries via Belarus.

Flows began to reverse in late December at the Mallnow interconnection point and have remained eastward into February.
Deliveries were also sharply down last month via Ukraine and also through the Turkish Stream pipeline string to Europe, which saw supplies dip back below 1 Bcm.

The lower Russian deliveries, which tally with Gazprom's own data showing a continued low level of gas sales in Europe last month, lent support to European gas prices.

The average TTF day-ahead price in January was Eur81.86/MWh, more than 4 times higher than the average in January 2021 of just Eur20.30/MWh, according to S&P Global Platts price assessments.

Supplies via Russia last month may also have been affected by the contract price for Russian gas becoming less competitive versus European hub prices as the high prices from Q3 last year begin to filter through to Gazprom's long-term contracts.

Russian long-term supply contracts are often priced with a 6 to 9 month time lag.

Russian flows in February may turn out higher than last month after flows via Nord Stream returned to their usual flow rate on Feb. 1 and deliveries via Ukraine at the Velke Kapusany interconnection point also rose.