Cold winter ahead for EU, Ukraine over Russian gas war.

Pissing off your energy provider in mids Winter....not a smart move.

Cold winter ahead for EU, Ukraine over Russian gas war.(RT).

In October, Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz said it had 17 billion cubic meters of gas in storage, but Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it won’t be enough to heat Ukraine through the winter.

However, Ukraine will require 21.5 billion cubic meters, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Vitaly Markelov said on Thursday. Meanwhile, by the time Ukraine's chilly winter comes, storage will be drained to 14 billion cubic meters, according to Markelov.

“It’s a catastrophe,” Bloomberg quotes Markelov. “In these conditions, the winter transit of Russian gas won’t be possible because storage won’t be enough to compensate for Ukrainian consumer draw downs.”

Europe imports roughly 25 percent of its gas from Russia, 50 percent of which is currently shipped through Ukraine. 

If Ukraine and Russia get tangled up in a gas war over pricing or politics and the pipes are turned off, it would be an energy burden for neighboring European states, as a supply crunch would send prices soaring.
Transit through Ukraine stood at 61 billion cubic meters in the first nine months of 2013, while in FY 2012 the figure was at 84.2 billion cubic meters.
Gas tiffs and pricing disputes over advanced payments have caused major supply disruptions, both in the winters of 2006 and 2009, leaving many customers without heat.
Naftogaz said it will stop buying gas from Gazprom during 2014 after Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller demanded Ukraine 'immediately' pay $882 million of gas debt, threatening to stop pre-pay deliveries.
President Viktor Yanukovich contradicted Naftogaz’s position, when on Thursday, he said he “hopes for a compromise” with Russia.
Yanukovich was in Moscow over the weekend and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin but no official communiqué was released on their meeting.
Ukraine complains about high prices for Russian gas, that average being around $400 per 1,000 cubic meters, one of the highest prices in Europe. Ukraine currently imports more than half of its gas from Russia, but both countries are making efforts to cut down on business.

Russia is building a maze of pipelines to the north and south, to ensure more reliable supply to European customers, and Ukraine is wooing foreign companies in joint ventures in shale and offshore reserves.Hmmm....As usual the british pensioners will be hardest hit.