Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz announced on Tuesday 6 December that it had made an application to the German energy regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, over the recent decision by the European Commission to allow Russian gas company Gazprom to expand its access to the OPAL gas pipeline.
Naftogaz insists on being summoned by the German regulator to participate in the administrative procedure on its decision on new exemption conditions for access by third parties to the OPAL pipeline so that it can officially present its position and also on being granted access to the text of the settlement agreement and the decision of the European Commission dated 28 October 2016, which has not yet been published, it says. Naftogaz has made application to the German regulator since the regulator was authorised by the Commission to make a final decision on the matter.
OPAL, the annual capacity of which is 36 billion cubic metres, is connected to the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream, which runs under the Baltic Sea, and travels the length of the eastern German border as far as the Czech Republic. In 2009, the Commission restricted use of OPAL by Gazprom to only 50% of the capacity of the pipeline. The Commission’s decision of 28 October will allow Gazprom to use 30-40% more of the OPAL capacity. It is a decision that could cause Ukraine to lose between $320 and $425 million in annual revenue from the transit of Russian gas through its network.
“The OPAL settlement agreement affects interests of a number of gas operators in Eastern Europe, including Naftogaz as a party to the transit contract with Gazprom and a major natural gas importer to Ukraine. (It) restricts and distorts competition in Ukraine and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe (and) enables Gazprom to considerably strengthen and abuse its already dominant position” in Germany and Eastern Europe, Naftogaz argues.
Just like Polish gas company PGNiG, which took the matter to the Court of Justice on Monday 5 December (see EUROPE 11682), Naftogaz hopes that the decision, which, it says, damages its interests and does not comply with energy community treaty rules, will be overturned. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)