NORD STREAM WELL ABOVE

PLATTS - Natural gas flows via the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany totaled 58.8 Bcm in 2018 -- 3.8 Bcm higher than its nameplate capacity of 55 Bcm/year -- according to the operator of the pipeline.

Nord Stream started in 2011 -- designed as a bypass for the Ukrainian gas transportation route -- and has ramped up exports gradually until 2018, when the maximum capacity was passed.

"It is normal that gas pipeline technically can transport more than its designed capacity," a Gazprom Export spokesperson said Tuesday.

"So in some favorable circumstances it is possible to transport higher volumes," the spokesperson said, comparing it to LNG plants that can produce more than their capacity.

The figures provided by Gazprom are quoted in standard Russian Bcm, which are measured at a different pressure and temperature to gas volumes in Europe.

S&P Global Platts Analytics measured Nord Stream flows in 2018 at 55.5 Bcm after conversion from the published flow rate in KWh/h -- in line with a Russian gross calorific value of an estimated 38.1 MJ/cu m, below that of the standard European 40 MJ/cu m.

In a statement, Nord Stream said the 2018 total represented the highest utilization since the start of operations. They were boosted by the decision from July 2017 to allow Gazprom access to more capacity in the OPAL pipeline, which flows gas from Nord Stream onward into Europe.

The record high flows also came despite two weeks of maintenance in July last year when flows fell to zero.

Nord Stream has undergone two-week maintenance periods each year in recent years.

BASELOAD SUPPLY

The high flow rates via Nord Stream show the pipeline is being used by Gazprom as its baseload supply to Europe.

The Yamal-Europe pipeline via Belarus has also been maxed out in recent years, leaving the route via Ukraine to take the swing of European gas demand.

Nord Stream has transported a total of 264.1 Bcm of gas since 2011 via the two-string pipeline network, it said.

"After the steady year-on-year increase of the pipelines' average utilization rate, Nord Stream reached the record annual volume of transported gas in 2018," it said.

Gazprom is currently building a second pipeline network along the same route, the 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 project.

According to the latest information, more than 400km of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been laid.

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Earlier: 

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2019, January, 16, 11:35:00 GERMANY PROTECTS EUROPE REUTERS - Germany will try to protect German and European companies from some potentially “massive collateral damage” if Washington levies further sanctions against Russia, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

2019, January, 16, 11:25:00 U.S. SANCTIONS FOR OMV REUTERS - Threatening to impose U.S. sanctions on companies involved in the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline is unacceptable, the head of Austria’s OMV, which has a stake in the project, told Germany’s Handelsblatt.

2019, January, 14, 12:15:00 U.S. SANCTIONS FOR GERMANY REUTERS - The United States has warned German companies involved in the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that they could face sanctions if they stick with the project.

2019, January, 11, 11:35:00 WRONG U.S. SANCTIONS REUTERS - U.S. sanctions against the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be the wrong way to solve a dispute over energy supply, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday.

2018, December, 27, 17:40:00 RUSSIA SANCTIONS FOREVER PLATTS - The US has long opposed the Nord Stream expansion, arguing that Europe should not be so dependent on Moscow for energy. The government has recently been touting US LNG exports as an alternative to Russian gas, in addition to supporting the Southern Gas Corridor from the Caspian region to the EU.

2018, December, 12, 08:50:00 U.S. WANTS NORD STREAM 2 PLATTS - The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on a non-binding resolution expressing opposition to the completion of the 55 Bcm/year Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.