Gas Purchases News

Damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe was caused by powerful explosions, Danish police said on Tuesday, echoing earlier findings into leaks that erupted in the network under the Baltic Sea and that have been blamed on sabotage.In what a Swedish newspaper described as the first publicly released footage of damage to the system, film from a private drone appeared to show a gaping rupture in one pipe. Expressen reported a 50-meter section missing from one area of pipeline.Dwindling flows of gas from Russia…

South Korean state-owned Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) will invest 10 trillion won (US$8.84 billion) by 2025 to expand its natural gas capacity and infrastructure for hydrogen vehicles and other clean energy sources, reports Yonhap.Kogas, which has a monopoly on domestic natural gas sales,  unveiled a long-term business plan on the 35th anniversary of its foundation as it expects to play a greater role under the government’s energy transformation policy. The world’s second-largest importer of LNG said it will buy LNG at cheaper prices in future contracts and make joint efforts with other Asian buyers to have greater bargaining power…

Lithuania will import more gas from Norway than from former sole supplier Russia in 2016 after developing infrastructure to support liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, the country's energy minister said on Monday. Russia's Gazprom had enjoyed a supply monopoly until the end of 2014, when Lithuania opened a floating LNG import terminal to reduce energy dependence on its former Soviet master. That allowed it to import gas from Norwegian tankers, as well as via pipeline from Russia. Volumes of LNG imports to Lithuania are expected to triple this year after two new importers signed deals with Norway's Statoil, the terminal's operator Klaipedos Nafta said on Friday.

A Russian deputy economy minister said on Tuesday that he did not rule out weaker European demand for Russian oil and gas due to tension over Ukraine. Andrei Klepach also told reporters that Ukraine is likely to reduce Russian gas purchases this year to 20 billion cubic metres, from 25.8 billion in 2013, because of difficulties paying for deliveries. "This is not (a result of) sanctions, but one may anticipate a certain decrease in demand for our hydrocarbons both from Ukraine and from European countries," he said. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Steve Gutterman)

Russia's top natural gas producer, Gazprom, will eventually lose more than it gains from raising the gas price for Ukraine by 80 percent, analysts said on Friday, predicting Kiev would cut purchases and fail to pay in full. Gazprom on Thursday announced a price rise for Ukraine to $485 per 1,000 cubic metres, the second increase in three days. The $485 price is the highest of any Gazprom customer and compares with around $370 on average for clients in the European Union. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said the increase, two weeks after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, was unacceptable and warned he expected Russia to step up pressure by limiting supplies to Ukraine.