Russia reduced daily gas supplies via Ukraine to Europe by another 10% - to a new low

Since January 4, Russia has reduced the daily supply of natural gas through the Ukrainian GTS to European consumers by another 10% - to 38.4 mcm, which, according to ExPro, is a new historical minimum.

Russia transports natural gas via Ukraine to two countries: Slovakia and Moldova. Supplies to Moldova remain stable - about 6 mcm per day. On the other hand, deliveries to Slovakia decreased - from 36.8 to 32.8 mcm on January 4.

It should be noted that transporting volume is almost three times less than the reserved capacity - 109.6 mcm per day. The long-term contract concluded for 2020-2024 on the terms of "ship or pay" provides that Russia must pay for the entire reserved volume - 40 bcm in 2023.

Currently, the reasons for the further reduction of Russian gas supplies to Europe are unknown. At the same time, natural gas prices on European markets continue to decrease - to €67/MWh (or $750/tcm), the lowest level since February 18, 2022.

As reported by ExPro, Russian gas transit through Ukraine fell to a historic low of 20 bcm in 2022.