The giant Gazprom announced on Sunday that it had recorded a drop of almost a third in its gas exports to the EU and Turkey in the first four months of 2022, compared to 2021.
If Russian gas deliveries to the EU collapsed between January and April 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, exports to China have exploded.
AFP
Deliveries of Russian gas to European Union (EU) countries and Turkey fell sharply between January and April year on year. “Exports to countries outside the CIS (editor’s note the EU and Turkey) amounted to 50.1 billion cubic meters, or 26.9% less than in the same period of 2021”, indicates in a press release the gas giant, without providing an explanation. However, it specifies that it will continue to supply gas “in full compliance with contractual obligations”.
Over the same period, Gazprom’s production was down 2.5% year on year, to 175.4 billion cubic meters. Deliveries to the domestic market also fell, by 3.7%, “particularly due to the hot weather in February”. Exports to China, on the other hand, have exploded, climbing by 60% over one year via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, the group controlled by the Russian state said in a press release.
European reserves will not be enough, says Gazprom
Gazprom also indicated that gas reserves in European underground storage facilities were 6.9 billion cubic meters. “To reach the 90% filling target for storage facilities posted by the European Union, companies will have to pump an additional 56 billion cubic meters of gas,” says Gazprom.
“Replenishing gas reserves in underground facilities in Europe is a very serious challenge”, assured the group, stressing that the daily delivery capacity had technical limits and that “the total quantity of gas available on the European market depends strongly in demand in the growing Asian market.
As a reminder, energy prices are soaring in Europe, as the EU has so far been unable to bring itself to implement an embargo on Russian oil and gas. In 2021, Gazprom posted a record net profit multiplied by thirteen over one year, at 2,159 billion rubles (approx. 28 billion francs), driven by the strong growth in demand for hydrocarbons.
(AFP)