Gas angle The EU will pay extra for Ukraine and frosts: For the Baltic States there is only expensive LNG

Having abandoned Russian gas, the Baltic States and Finland have turned into a gas corner of Europe, which is completely dependent on LNG supplies, and in the cold they have to pay the most money for gas in the European Union. Gas shortage on the Ukraine only aggravates the situation. The Inchukalna storage facility has already used up all the gas pumped last year and switched to old reserves.

For almost a week wholesale gas prices in The Baltic states and Finland are holding on to a new high. In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia sells fuel at $ 630 per thousand cubic meters, and in Finland — at $ 674, according to EEX. In some days of January, the price of gas in Finland has already jumped to $ 850.

This is significantly higher than, for example, in Germany, where quotations also increased, but not so much — they amount to $ 516.

This is the price paid by the gas corner of Europe for dependence on LNG supplies and frosts, when all EU countries need fuel. Even the presence of LNG terminals in Latvia and Finland does not change the situation.

The situation is significantly aggravated by the stocks that have been made for this heating season. Local companies did not upload to the only in The Baltic storage facility, Inchukalnskoye, has large volumes of gas, but the authorities did not force it. As a result, all the gas pumped last year has already been taken from the UGS, and its reserves have fallen to 767 million cubic meters, according to GIE. With an average selection of 14 million cubic meters per day in January, they will last for another 54 days, while the heating season traditionally lasts until mid—April - another 75-80 days.

It is obvious that there is a shortage of gas on Ukraine is directly hitting stocks in The Baltic States. One of the main suppliers of fuel to the country since last year has been Poland, which receives significant volumes, including through the Lithuanian LNG terminal in Klaipeda. Back in the summer, Lithuania stated that part of the volume goes to Ukraine, and since November from In the Baltic states, 240 million cubic meters went to Poland, according to ENTSOG.

In January, Poland generally became the main direction of gas exports to Ukraine, and from February deliveries are planned to increase even more.

"The operator of the GTS of Poland Gaz-System and the Operator of the GTS of Ukraine have agreed on a phased increase in capacity for gas imports from Poland on Ukraine since the beginning of February. By the end of April, the capacity of this direction will increase from 15.3 million cubic meters to 18.4 million cubic meters per day," said the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Denis Shmygal.

Frosts are also dangerous for the Baltic States and Finland because windless weather is set at this time and the power of green power plants is falling. The increased consumption of expensive gas immediately hits electricity prices. During peak hours of Monday, the wholesale cost of electricity in In the Baltic states, it jumped to 505 euros per MWh, and the daily average jumped to 241 euros. Prices this January are already more than 50% higher than a year ago. The situation is similar in Finland, but there the price increase is mitigated by nuclear power plants.

By the weekend, frosts will return to Europe, in the Baltics they will reach minus 20 degrees. At the same time, the United States, which itself has faced an Arctic storm, has been reducing LNG exports for the last three days. Obviously, it can be felt first in the gas corner of Europe.

"Apparently, because the effort The EU's efforts to create a single gas market and abandon Russian gas have been crowned with resounding success," says Alexey Grivach, Deputy Director of the FNEB, ironically.