Naftogaz prepays for Russian gas in January, imports less in December

Naftogaz prepays for Russian gas in January, imports less in December



5 січня 2015 года
Конкорд Капитал

Ukrainian natural gas transit monopoly Naftogaz prepaid about 1 bcm of Russian gas for January 2015, the company reported on Dec. 31. According to Naftogaz, the prepayment consists of carryover from the December prepayment and a new payment which, according to Interfax, amounted to USD 150 mln. In December, Naftogaz prepaid USD 378 mln to import 1 bcm of natural gas, while in fact it imported less (about 0.3-0.5 bcm, we estimate). The price of Russian gas, which is a derivate of oil prices, should decline to about USD 340/tcm in 1Q15 from USD 378/tcm in December 2014, and Naftogaz expects that the gas prepaid and not received in December will be priced according to January rates.



Alexander Paraschiy: Naftogaz seems to have decided to slightly decrease gas imports in December to enable slightly more imports in January with the same money paid. Such tactics looks logical from an economic point of view and given that Ukraine was lucky to have relatively warm weather in December, when gas use was below expectations.



At the same time, little gas imports in November-December led to a significant decrease in gas stockpiles in Ukrainian storage facilities: as of end-December, they amounted to 11.46 bcm, which is 22% (3.3 bcm) less yoy and 27% (4.3 bcm) less compared to end-2012. This low level makes Ukraine’s ability to get through this winter season much more dependent on future supplies of Russian gas, which cannot be considered as guaranteed, even though there is an agreement valid until end-March.

Источник: Конкорд Капитал

Аналитик: Александр Паращий
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