Gazprom claims that increase in Nord Stream’s transit did not reduce gas transit through Ukraine
Gazprom is experiencing good dynamics in its gas exports to Europe through Nord Stream and OPAL pipelines; at the same time, transit through Ukraine has even increased, TASS reported quoting Chairman of the Board of Gazprom, Alexey Miller.
"Between August 1 and August 8, production through the OPAL gas pipeline by Gazprom increased by 30%. Today, the pipeline has reached full capacity. The volume of daily gas supply to Greifswald reached 140 million cubic meters on August 8. That is, the use of Nord Stream exceeded 90% of the designed capacity. And this is in the summer! This testifies to the high demand for this export route and its extension, the OPAL gas pipeline. Its full utilization is an objective market necessity on the part of our European customers,” Miller said.
According to him, the countries of Europe are interested in Russian gas.
"The demand for Russian gas in Europe is objectively very high. And Gazprom maximally uses all available export routes. The load of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline through the territory of Poland in the first week of August, despite OPAL's work, remained at the maximum level. And on the Ukrainian corridor, there was even an increase in the volume of transit through the Velke-Kapusany point on the Ukrainian-Slovak border," Miller added.
At the same time, the head of Gazprom said that the state of the Ukrainian gas transportation system cannot guarantee a reliable gas supply to Europe in the medium and long term.
Prior to this, Vedomosti analyzed transit data in early August and concluded that Gazprom had transferred part of the gas to OPAL away from the Ukrainian side.