What goes on in Poland on the 29th of May.
During the industry conference Flame in Amsterdam, the vice-president of PGNiG Maciej Woźniak announced that his company wants to double LNG supplies to Poland this year. The Russian minister of energy argues that liquefied gas is 30-40 percent more expensive than gas supplies from Gazprom. The rising oil prices may make LNG, including the US one, more competitive in relation to the Russian offer.
Who will sell cheaper gas?
In 2017, PGNiG imported 1.,7 billion cubic meters of liquefied gas. The company’s vice president announced that it wants to double this result in 2018. In addition to liquefied gas and gas from the stock exchange, PGNiG also imports it under a long-term contract with Russian Gazprom.
The Russian minister of energy is trying to dissuade Gazprom customers from LNG purchases, especially from the USA, which are treated by the International Energy Agency as the main competitor of the Russian giant in the coming decade.
Alexander Novak claims that LNG from the USA is 30-40 percent more expensive than supplies from Russia. He would disagree with PGNiG, who says that US LNG on the spot and imported under the futures contract with British Centrica is cheaper than supplies from Russia. Meanwhile, the contract with Gazprom is to be the most expensive in the Polish company’s portfolio.
The growing attractiveness of LNG from the USA
This trend may continue with the increase in the price of oil, on which its price formula depends. According to experts, it reflects the gas price with a delay of six-nine months. The increase in the value of the barrel recorded since the beginning of the year may, therefore, effects in decline in the competitiveness of supplies from Russia in relation to the offer on the LNG market, whose contracts in a significant part are not dependent on the price of oil. It is different in the case of the PGNiG-Qatargas contract, which, however, is leveraged with an annex to the contract containing more favorable provisions.
– In Europe and Germany there is potential for importing liquefied gas from the USA and it is bigger than the efficiency of Nord Stream 2 – admitted German Foreign Minister, Heiko Mass. His country is a supporter of the project of the Russian gas pipeline, but recognizes the growing importance of LNG from the USA. An LNG terminal with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters is to be built near Hamburg. annually, ie as much as it has before the planned expansion of the facility in Polish Świnoujście. German Vopak and Dutch Gasunie are responsible for the venture in western Germany.