London, 11 April - Neftegaz.RU. Russian flows of natural gas into Germany and Slovakia combined rose above 400 million cu m/d in each of the final 3 days of Week 14 for the 1st time on almost 5 months as Brotherhood flows increased, data from S&P Global Platts Analytics showed.
Total flows of gas from Russia via the Nord Stream, Yamal, and Brotherhood pipelines combined rose to their highest since October 28, 2018, during Saturday's gas day, reaching 402 million cu m in the process.
Moreover, receipts on both Friday's gas day and Sunday's gas day came in at 401 million cu m each, with Friday's receipts being the 1st time since mid-November 2018 that receipts were above 400 million cu m for a single day.
The increase has been driven by rising flows into the Velke Kapusany complex on the Slovakia /Ukraine border transited through the Brotherhood pipeline which hit 160 million cu m on Saturday's gas day, their highest since the final day of Nord Stream maintenance on September 21, 2017.
Gas throughput via Velke Kapusany has increased despite maintenance work reducing capacity at the 195 million cu m/d complex by 35 million cu m/d until April 17 due to block valve station maintenance on a pipeline. Therefore, flows into Velke Kapusany have been close to the current full 160 million cu m/d over recent days and may increase further in the 2nd half of the month as full capacity is restored.
Flows via Velke Kapusany have been boosted recently by increased reliance on Russian gas by Italy because of reduced flows from North Africa and storage injections having restarted.
Author: Gary Hornby
