Polish state-owned Gaz-System, the new operator of the Polish stretch of Russia's Yamal-Europe gas pipeline plans to admit third parties access to the pipeline as soon as the second quarter of 2011, contrary to Russian gas giant Gazprom's interests, Kommersant business daily reported on Monday.
In early November, Russia and Poland ended a four-year energy dispute, signing a new gas supply and transit agreement, under which Russia will increase deliveries to 11 bcm in 2012-2022 from 9.7 bcm in 2010. The transit agreement runs until 2019 as in the previous contract, but the parties agreed that extension of delivery and transit contracts was possible.
The new agreement says that EuRoPol Gaz, a Russian-Polish joint venture operating the Polish sector of the Yamal-Europe pipeline, will pass technical operation of the pipeline's Polish stretch to Gaz-System, while Gazprom and PGNiG will not be able to attract new participants in EuRoPol Gaz.
Kommersant quoted Gaz-System CEO Jan Chadam as saying the company was ready to offer free capacity in the Yamal-Europe pipeline to third parties. "Our plans depend on many factors, in particular, the pipeline should have free capacity. Now it is time for negotiations and we will be able to speak more specifically on the issue in six months," Chadam told the paper.
Kommersant said Poland intended to implement the European Union's third energy package, which required the provision of access for third parties to gas transportation facilities and a split between sales and transportation businesses. As soon as Gaz-System assumed the rights to operate the Yamal-Europe pipeline, it announced plans to prepare several rules for non-discriminatory access to the pipeline as required by the EU Energy Commission. The rules would specify the guidelines for access to the pipeline, the methods for using free capacity and regulating fees for the operator's services.
Gazprom has not commented officially, but a source in the company told the paper that Gazprom was surprised by Gaz-System's position. The source told Kommersant the Yamal-Europe pipeline definitely would not have spare capacity in 2011.
"There is a technical agreement, which pre-determines the load capacity, and as a result, the availability of spare facilities," East European Gas Analysis head Mikhail Korchemkin told the paper, adding that the access of third parties was practically impossible at present but in the future the pipeline might transit gas from Latvia, for example. This could happen if a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is built in any of the Baltic states, Korchemkin told Kommersant.
BrokerCreditService analyst Maxim Shein said that spare facilities could become available much earlier after the construction of an underwater gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Nord Stream. The first line of Nord Stream is planned to be built in late 2011, the second at the end of 2012.
MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti)
