German gas storage levy against EU law: AGGM
Germany's gas storage levy is "against union law" as it hinders cross-border trade, effectively making Germany an entry zone only, Austrian area market manager AGGM executive board member Bernhard Painz told Argus in an interview.
The German storage levy charges a fee on all gas exiting the German grid, set at €1.86/MWh for January-June, with the aim of recouping money spent to purchase strategic reserves in 2022.
AGGM is "really surprised" that the European Commission, which is "explicitly informed about the case", has not taken action against it. The levy has caused export flows from Germany to all neighbouring countries to collapse, and has resulted in Austrian prices becoming "sort of decoupled from the northwest European market", Painz said.
"Neither short-term trading nor long-term commitments for gas deliveries from Germany may develop in this situation," Painz said, noting that there is a "very high" chance that the levy will increase further in the future, meaning that "market-driven efforts to diversify the sources of supply for the Austrian gas market will be prevented". His comments echo those made by Austrian energy regulator E-Control's executive director, Alfons Haber, in a recent interview with Argus.
The Austrian day-ahead price has held an average discount of €1.02/MWh to its German counterpart so far in January, and averaged a discount of €0.86/MWh across the fourth quarter of 2023. These discounts mean that there is no financial incentive for exports from Germany to Austria — total net imports from Germany at Oberkappel last year fell to 25TWh from 54TWh in 2022. Total German export flows in all directions last year dropped to 187TWh from 499TWh in 2022.
The significant drop in exports from Germany "not only means that the levy generates quite low income for [German market area manager] THE", but because of the lower utilisation rate of German exit points the tariff revenues of German transmission system operators (TSOs) is now much lower too, Painz said.
"In summary, the reaction of market participants to the levy could mean that the total costs that German gas network users have to pay could be even higher than without the levy being applied at cross-border points," Painz concluded. Austria could introduce a storage levy of its own if Germany's is found to be compatible with EU law, a measure that is being considered but "not yet foreseen", but Germany's experience is "not really a success story", he said.
The potential introduction of a storage levy in Italy would harm the Austrian market further, meaning "the Austrian market would not only be decoupled from the northwest European market but also from the Italian market", making Austria's attempts to diversify away from Russian gas even more difficult.
But increasing import capacity from Italy is still of "great interest" in order to support diversification efforts, Painz said. The technical entry capacity of the TAG pipeline into Austria is higher than the exit capacity on the Italian side, but Italian system operator Snam is "currently planning to implement technical measures to align its exit capacities with the TAG entry capacities until 2027".
No plans to liquidate Austrian reserve
There are currently "no specific plans" regarding the liquidation of the 20TWh Austrian state gas reserve, which similarly to its German equivalent was bought unhedged during the period of peak gas prices, Painz said.
The legal basis for the storage reserve was extended in November until 1 April 2026, but only allows for withdrawals from the reserve in the event of energy shortages as declared by the competent ministry. This means that at present there are "no specific plans as to when the reserve of 20TWh or parts of it will be liquidated", Painz said.
As long as no additional technical import capacities from Germany are available, maintaining high storage levels is "crucial for security of supply in Austria all year round", so AGGM "would not recommend an earlier liquidation of the reserve", Painz said.
The "uncertainties associated with gas imports in Europe over the last two years have definitely increased the importance of gas storage for security of supply", while these uncertainties have also driven high price volatility, Painz said. High demand for storage capacities is a result of "both security of supply considerations and hedging against price volatility".
The state reserve takes up 20TWh of Austria's total storage capacity of roughly 97.6TWh, or around 20pc. While this is a significant volume tied up by the reserve, "in view of the need for high storage levels throughout the year to ensure security of supply, the respective contribution made by the strategic gas reserve is still necessary and in our view, has no significant impact on the functioning of the gas storage market", Painz said.
Related news posts
Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
New York, 25 September (Argus) — Hurricane Helene, which is forecast to intensify as it heads for a late Thursday landfall in Florida, has shut in about 29pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 511,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 313mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 17pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from 17 offshore platforms. Helene was last about 110 miles north-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Helene is expected to be a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, when it reaches the eastern Florida coast on Thursday evening. "A turn toward the north and north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today through Thursday, bringing the center of Helene across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to the Florida Big Bend coast by Thursday evening," the center said. Shell restarting some production Although the hurricane will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies have taken precautionary measures. Given a shift in the forecast track, Shell said late Tuesday that it had started to ramp up production at the Appomattox platform to normal levels, and was in the process of restoring output at the Stones facility, both off the coast of Louisiana. It paused some drilling operations. Chevron said earlier it was shutting in production at company-operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and evacuating all workers. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform. BP had earlier this week started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall, with up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
London, 25 September (Argus) — There will be an oversupply of LNG on the global market in the coming years, which may contribute further to "the decade of turmoil", Danish utility Orsted senior vice-president Rune Sonne Bundgaard-Jorgensen told Argus . "The [energy] crisis is absolutely not over. To me, an energy crisis is one of uncertainty and volatility," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said on the sidelines of the Energy Trading Week conference in London. "We are going to see an LNG glut which we all in this [conference] room see is coming but the rest of the world does not necessarily. That is going to catch a lot of people by surprise," he said, adding that "surprises are never good when it comes to energy". According to Bundgaard-Jorgensen, "we are going to see an ongoing decade of turmoil. Who knows where the war in the Middle East with the latest attacks on Hezbollah and Israel is going to take us," he said. Among other concerns, he mentioned "uncertainties in the Far East, around the South China Sea". "So, though the current energy crisis of decoupling from Russian pipe gas is over, the continued crisis of where we are going to get sustainable, long-term energy from is far from over," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. Commenting on Orsted's long-term gas plans, Bundgaard-Jorgensen stressed that Orsted is "constantly evaluating" its gas portfolio. He refused to say whether Orsted is negotiating another long-term deal with Norwegian state-controlled Equinor after their previous contract expired in April. Orsted entered an agreement with Equinor at the end of 2022, after Russian state-controlled Gazprom halted deliveries to the firm from June 2022 following Orsted's refusal to pay for its supply in roubles . "We are quite happy that we are out of our long-term contract with Gazprom," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. "As a company we believe in decarbonisation — but I also need to believe in a resilient portfolio. So, we are constantly looking to optimise. Gas is not a strategic core of Orsted but it is a very important tool of securing our portfolio," he said. Bundgaard-Jorgensen refused to comment on whether the firm is planning to appeal a decision made by the Danish Supply Authority in July that the tariff levied by Orsted on the Tyra-Nybro pipeline to Denmark from 2011 to October 2012 was too high. The authority reduced the tariff in the period by almost 30pc to 7.20 Danish kroner/m³ from DKr10/m³. By Alexandra Vladimirova Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Adds daily spot market crude pricing information. New York, 24 September (Argus) — Tropical storm Helene, which is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday before coming ashore in Florida Thursday, has shut in about 16pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 284,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 208mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 11pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from four offshore production platforms. Helene was last about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The current forecast has the center of Helene entering the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning and moving north-northeast toward a possible landfall near the Florida panhandle region late Thursday. By then it will have strengthened into a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, according to forecasts. While the storm will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies started suspended some operations on Sunday. Chevron began evacuating workers and shutting in its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. "While we are also transporting nonessential personnel from our four other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico platforms, production there remains at normal levels," the company said. Shell said Monday it had shut in output from its Stones facility and curtailed production from the Appomattox platform, both off the coast of Louisiana. The company was also relocating non-essential workers from its assets in the Mars corridor, and suspending some drilling operations. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform as a precaution. BP had started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. Offshore spot prices rise slightly The Na Kika platform is connected by pipeline to the Shell-operated Delta pipeline system, which carries Heavy Louisiana Sweet (HLS) crude to shore. During trading on Tuesday, October HLS rose by 20¢/bl relative to the light sweet crude benchmark in Cushing, Oklahoma, to an 80¢/bl discount. The October US pipeline trade month ends Wednesday. The Thunder Horse platform production is marketed as part of a sour crude stream by the same name that is priced at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Pipeline's (LOOP) facility in Clovelly, Louisiana, where it has dedicated underground cavern storage, as does Mars. On Tuesday, Thunder Horse traded at a 50¢/bl discount to the Cushing benchmark, after wide discussion circled a 40¢/bl discount in the prior session. Medium sour secondary benchmark Mars tightened its gap to the Cushing basis by 30¢/bl to a volume-weighted average discount of roughly $1.55/bl. Crude production from the 140,000 b/d capacity Argos platform feeds into the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS), which carries Southern Green Canyon (SGC) crude to the Texas Gulf coast. Argos platform serves the Mad Dog 2 field development that came online last year. Atlantis production also feeds into SGC. No SGC transactions were reported on Tuesday. It was offered as low as $1/bl under the Cushing benchmark, lower than trade at a 50¢/bl discount in the prior session. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall as a category 1 storm. Up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Adds BSEE production shut in data, updated storm info. New York, 24 September (Argus) — Tropical storm Helene, which is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday before coming ashore in Florida Thursday, has shut in about 16pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 284,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 208mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 11pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from four offshore production platforms. Helene was last about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The current forecast has the center of Helene entering the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning and moving north-northeast toward a possible landfall near the Florida panhandle region late Thursday. By then it will have strengthened into a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, according to forecasts. While the storm will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies started suspended some operations on Sunday. BP said Monday it had started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. Chevron began evacuating workers and shutting in its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. "While we are also transporting nonessential personnel from our four other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico platforms, production there remains at normal levels," the company said. Shell said Monday it had shut in output from its Stones facility and curtailed production from the Appomattox platform, both off the coast of Louisiana. The company was also relocating non-essential workers from its assets in the Mars corridor, and suspending some drilling operations. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform as a precaution. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine came ashore near Morgan City, Louisiana, as a category 1 storm. Up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more