PRESS: SPIMEX asks to abolish Gazprom gas sales via bourse limit

MOSCOW, Jul 28 (PRIME) -- The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) has applied to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich with a request to change the restriction for gas giant Gazprom’s gas sales on the bourse, Kommersant business daily reported Friday citing a letter by SPIMEX acting head Alexander Levtsev.

Otherwise, there will be a deficit of gas and a hike in prices in the winter, he said.

In January–June, independent gas producers more than halved gas sales via the bourse to 1.5 billion cubic meters, while Gazprom tripled sales to 9.3 billion cubic meters, raising its share in sales to 86%. If the trend continues, the volume of Gazprom’s sales through the bourse will exceed the limit of 17.5 billion cubic meters by October–November, Levtsev said.

Demand for gas grows in the winter, while sales of independent producers dropped to 83 million cubic meters per month in December 2016–February 2017 from 253 million cubic meters in the 2015–2016 heating season. SPIMEX believes that gas supply at auctions in the winter months of 2017–2018 may amount to one tenth of the expected demand, which will result in a sharp increase in prices.

Dmitry Makhonin, a department director at the Federal Antimonopoly Service, said the antitrust body favors the abolishment of Gazprom’s limit of gas sales on the bourse.

Gazprom also said it supports the abolishment of the limit, while independent gas producer Novatek opposed the initiative.

The Energy Ministry said it received the proposal of SPIMEX and is studying it.

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