Pioneers of longevity

Severstal and Acron signed contracts for the purchase of gas until 2012

Two large gas consumers immediately announced the signing of long-term contracts with Gazprom. The chemical holding Acron and the metallurgical company Severstal will receive 2.3 and 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year, respectively. Until now, only the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works , as well as Mosenergo, whose controlling stake belongs to the gas monopoly, have openly acknowledged the existence of agreements. Gazprom itself claims that the final contractual campaign with industrial consumers will be completed any day now. However, it is already clear: mostly standard contracts will be signed, and protocols of disagreements will be attached regarding the specific conditions of their implementation. This aspect calls into question the stability of the entire system of long-term contracts.

The idea of ​​transitioning to long-term relationships between suppliers and consumers in the Russian gas market was lobbied by RAO UES of Russia. Anatoly Chubais needed guarantees of gas supplies to existing and new capacities planned by the energy holding’s investment program. Gazprom demanded liberalization of prices for industrial consumers. In principle, the “deal” of the monopolies took place a year ago, when the government approved the volume of gas supplies to electric power enterprises, approved a schedule for the transition of industry to prices tied to export prices by 2011, and also gave instructions to conclude long-term contracts between Gazprom and consumers (with the exception of public sector and population).

For about nine months, Gazprom and RAO agreed on the text of a standard contract for gas supply in 2008-2012, after which the management of the energy holding instructed its subsidiaries (WGC and TGC, which had not yet been sold to private investors) to compulsorily sign the contract. According to Vremya Novostei, almost all generating companies signed a standard agreement, but at the same time compiled a table of disagreements, which included controversial points. Until the signing process is completed, the parties prefer not to disclose information.

The problem is complicated by the fact that, in fact, the consumer must enter into two contracts with the monopoly. The first is for the supply of “limited” gas (that is, in the volume according to the 2007 balance) at regulated prices, and the second is for the supply of additional volume (up to the required quantity) at prices according to last year’s government decree. Gazprom, as is known, received the right to sell “super-limit” (“new”) gas with coefficients to the state price: for example, in 2008 it can “throw up” up to 50%, and the exact value is a subject of negotiations.

Even metallurgists who have concluded real (without disagreements) contracts do not disclose the proportions of limited and additional gas, as well as the size of the coefficient. “The volume of gas supplies corresponds to the needs that take into account the production program of the Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works,” Severstal said in a statement. However, as Interfax reports with reference to Acron Vice President Alexander Popov, 63% of the company’s gas volume will be supplied at regulated prices. The remaining 37% in 2008 will go with a coefficient of 1.35 to the regulated price. With each subsequent year, the difference between commercial and regulated prices will decrease. Mr. Popov also noted that the increase in gas prices to $125 per thousand cubic meters (this is the figure that officials initially named when assessing the cost of gas in 2011 after the deregulation) is “absolutely uncritical” for the company.

However, if the price of oil does not fall, gas will cost Russian consumers much more in three years. As the head of the Mezhregiongaz department, Alexander Petrov, explained, $125 per thousand cubic meters is obtained at a price of a barrel of oil of $54. And now it is more than $95, which, according to the price formula for the Russian gas market, gives about $200 per thousand cubic meters .

Alexey GRIVACHS