Russian state-controlled Gazprom only withdrew a net 650mn m³ from its European storage capacity in January-June, likely leaving stocks not far below the 11.7bn m³ it held at the end of 2019.
The firm withdrew 1.8bn m³ from stocks held at its own and booked European storage space, and injected 1.15bn m³ in January-June, the firm said — or a net stockdraw of about 650mn m³. This would leave the firm with about 11.05bn m³ held in European storage on 1 July.
That said, the firm may have also transferred or sold gas in storage to other firms without withdrawing the gas. Gazprom had sold 2.55bn m³ of its stocks to affiliate Gazprombank in December and 5.05bn m³ in August-November as part of repurchase agreements — effectively a loan with gas as collateral — which it could regain control of this winter, assuming it has booked the requisite capacity.
Gazprom had booked a further 3.5bn m³ of space in Europe ahead of last winter in anticipation of a potential halt to transit through Ukraine from the start of 2020. This was in addition to the more than 5bn m³ to which it has long-term access, and which it could have rolled over. The firm had also said it had concluded contracts for 3bn m³ of stored gas in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia "until 31 March 2021", but did not provide a more detailed breakdown.
The firm may have also drawn down stocks further in July, in order to meet customer nominations over maintenance to the firm's 55bn m³/yr Nord Stream pipeline on 14-25 July and at Mallnow, which had halted Russian deliveries at the German-Polish border point on 6-10 July.
Gazprom has withdrawn from storage in recent years during similar maintenance. But the firm may have relied on a much stronger stockdraw this year than previously, keeping deliveries through Ukraine broadly unchanged instead of lifting transit along the alternative route.
The firm withdrew extensively from storage sites in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, including the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia and France.
Combined net withdrawals from sites where Gazprom is known to hold capacity, including Germany's Rehden and Katharina, the Netherlands' Bergermeer facility and the firm's capacity at Haidach on the German-Austrian border, were 394GWh/d in July, reversed from net injections of 57.9GWh/d a year earlier. Net withdrawals from the sites have continued since then, at 30GWh/d on 1-15 August versus a net stockbuild of 167GWh/d a year earlier.
On aggregate, this would equate to a net reduction in stocks on 1 July-15 August of about 1.6bn m³ from a year earlier, although Gazprom may not have accounted for a significant share of stock movements at these sites.
And withdrawals were registered at a number of sites that the Russian firm has not always used to store gas, such as the Terega-operated Lussagnet facility in France and a number of sites in Austria and Slovakia. Lussagnet averaged a net stockdraw of 69.7GWh/d in July, switched from a net stockbuild of 72.5GWh/d a year earlier (see graph).
Annual works had also stopped flows through Nord Stream and at Mallnow last July, although maintenance dates varied.
