Gas exports to Europe fall again as supply shortages and cold winter causes prices to surge
Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany through the Yamal-Europe pipeline dropped sharply on Sunday amid surging energy prices across Europe.
Data from German network operator Gascade showed that flows at the Mallnow metering point on the German-Polish border declined to an hourly volume of around 370,000 kilowatt hours (kWh/h).
This follows significant drops in Saturday’s levels, when supplies plummeted to 1.2m kWh/h from an average of between 9-12m kWh/h recorded earlier in December.
General shortages in gas supplies from Russia has led to benchmark natural gas prices soaring seven-fold since the start of the year.
European power prices surged this weekend, with colder-than-normal temperatures boosting demand.
A combination of colder weather, low wind and nuclear outages, combined with very expensive natural gas prices, saw daily power prices in Spain jump to record levels – while the French equivalent rose to its highest level since a rare price peak in 2009.
It was not immediately clear why Yamal-Europe flows were down, and Russian gas exporter Gazprom did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
However, Russian gas supplies to Europe are closely tied with levels of gas in Gazprom’s storage at home.
The company started to lift gas from its underground facilities in central Russia this week, with peak consumption expected in a month.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline is a major route for European gas supplies which bypasses non-EU member Belarus.
Belarus has recently threatened to cut off flows through its country after the bloc voted to impose sanctions against the country for its handling of refugees at its border.
However, this is not the first time the pipeline has caused Europe serious issues, with the structure reporting eastward flows towards Russia for multiple days in October on two separate occasions.
Europe relies on Russia for 35 per cent of its natural gas supplies, and with Nord Stream 2 unlikely to be certified until the second half of next year, existing pipelines are crucial to containing spiralling wholesale costs and shoring up supplies amid fears of blackouts this winter.
In its latest full-year results Gazprom revealed export growth in gas supplies had increased by less than five per cent year-on-year, deepening worries of an upcoming crisis.
Following sustained criticism over supplies, Gazprom is now booking extra capacity at auctions for delivery via Ukraine and to Germany via the Yamal route.