MOSCOW (Reuters) – Eastbound natural gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which usually travel west from Russia to Europe, continued in reverse mode over the weekend, with volumes slightly higher than on Friday, data from German network operator Gascade showed.
This is the ninth week since Dec. 21 that the link between Poland and Germany has been operating in the reverse direction, exerting upward pressure on European gas prices. [NG/GB]
Flows from Germany to Poland via the Mallnow metering point stood at 1.5 million kilowatt hours per hour (kWh/h) on Saturday and Sunday, up slightly from 1.2 million kWh/h on Friday.
Renominations, or bids, to flow gas from Germany to Poland are also expected at about 1.5 million kWh/h until Monday morning. The pipeline usually accounts for about 15% of Russia’s annual westbound supply of gas to Europe and Turkey.
Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, which can book pipeline capacity at daily auctions, had not ordered any transit capacity for February and March via the route.
It also did not book capacity for the second and third quarters of the year.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Goodman)
