Gazprom’s exports to Europe via Ukraine continue despite the fighting

• Russian gas exports to Europe continued despite reports that Ukrainian forces seized a key gas metering station near the Russia-Ukraine border.
• Concerns about potential disruptions to gas flows have pushed up gas prices in Europe.
• The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine highlights the vulnerability of Europe’s energy supply and the potential for disruptions.

Natural gas flows from Russia to Europe via Ukraine continued on Thursday despite clashes on the Russia-Ukraine border near the only gas metering station still sending Russian gas west to Europe.

Unconfirmed reports emerged on Wednesday that Ukraine seized the Sudzha gas metering station in Russia’s Kursk region, the scene of heavy clashes in recent hours after Ukrainian troops crossed into Russian territory with tanks and armored vehicles earlier this week.

The Ukrainian ground attack on Russian regions across the border continued for a second day on Wednesday, forcing Russia to evacuate residents of the Kursk region, sparking a backlash against President Vladimir Putin for failing to thwart the attacks.

Reports that Ukrainian troops seized the Sudzha gas transfer and measurement stations in Russia’s Kursk region have not been confirmed.

After the Sokhranivka entry point for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine was closed, Gazprom had to redirect all the gas it can send to the Sudzha entry point.

Russian gas supplies to Europe have fallen off a cliff since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but some European customers in Central Europe – including Slovakia and Austria – continue to receive Russian gas via a route through Ukraine and a pipeline through Turkey.

On Thursday, gas transit continued at Sudzha for westbound delivery to Europe.

“Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha gas metering station – 37.3 million cubic meters (1.3 billion cubic feet) on August 8,” Gazprom’s representative said , Sergey Kupriyanov. , published by the Russian news agency Interfax.

Data from the European information platform ENTSOG also shows that the flow of natural gas leaving Ukraine to the EU remains uninterrupted.

On concerns about Russian gas flows to its few remaining European customers, Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for gas trading in Europe, rose 5 percent on Wednesday to its highest level so far in 2024 and increased by 3.5%. % starting at 13:23 in Amsterdam on Thursday.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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