On Monday Gazprom said it wasswitching Ukraine to what a statement described as a “prepayment system” on theheels of a billion-dollar dispute over lapsed bills.
The state-controlled energy giant pledgedto “make the greatest possible efforts” to prevent the disruption of suppliesto other customers but admitted there may be “shortfalls in transit”.
Since Ukraine, Germany and otherconsumers of Russian gas boast what some experts have called “ample reserves”few believe the cuts will have an significant impact on the European gas tradein the near-term but admit the future remains uncertain.
A leading equity analyst tellsTradeWinds that this uncertainty is fuelling renewed interest in shares ofpublicly-traded operators of LNG carriers that would be in a position to cashin on increased demand for gas from other sources in the event of a prolongeddisruption.
Today, all but one of the LNG stockstracked by the TradeWinds Shipping Index gained traction in early trading butstarted to lose momentum in the hours leading up to the close. The listincludes GasLog Ltd, Golar LNG Ltd and Teekay LNG Partners, among others.
Gazprom has expressed concerns thatNaftogaz Ukraine, the primary target of the $4.5bn legal dispute, will “siphonoff” gas that flows through the nation to other countries, which may not comeas a surprise since roughly 15% of Europe’s supplies pass through Ukraine.
