TRANSGAZ OF ROMANIA GOING TO TRIPLE VOLUME OF SUPPLY TO UKRAINE AND MOLDOVA

The Transgaz fuel transportation company of Romania wants to triple the volume of gas exports to Ukraine to be offered for booking as of January 20, 2020, reported the international information and analytical agency ICIS, specializing in analyzing energy market prices.

According ICIS, at the nearest auction of the regional platform RBP to be held on December 16, Transgaz will most probably offer to sale in that direction 14 million cubic meters as on January 20, 2020.

“The same monthly volume Transgaz has proposed for reverse gas flows from Bulgaria and Romania at the ‘Negru Voda 1-Cardam’ contact station. The capacity of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline at the ‘Isaccea 1-Cardam station’ (on the border with Ukraine) will be allocated not independently but proposed together with the capacities at the Negru Voda 1-Cardam station”, said the ICIS press release.

Initially, Transgaz was going to offer only 4.4 million cubic meters per day for each of the above-mentioned two border stations, but relevant sources reported that such a volume cannot satisfy Ukraine’s and Moldova’s demands: Moldova needs 9-10 million cubic meters a day and the Odessa Oblast [region] of Ukraine – 4-5 million cubic meters.

ICIS presumes that with new contracts, Ukraine will be able to preserve its transit to Central European countries, but will lose its transit to Southeastern Europe and to Turkey, where Russian gas will start coming through the TurkStream, whose official launching has been scheduled for January 8, 2020, though it is not known yet if the trans-continental pipeline will start pumping fuel straight from the beginning of 2020.

As soon as the TurkStream starts working, the Russian gas will be pumped from Turkey over to Bulgaria and Romania and then to Ukraine, from where, namely through the Isaccea 1-Orlovka station, the fuel will be coming to Moldova and to a part of the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine.