Gazprom Finds More Gas than it Produces Each Year

Russian gas giant Gazprom added another 457.4bn m³ to its reserves last year, while producing 419.1bn m³, it said May 19. This is the 12th year in a row that it has added more than it has subtracted. It leads the world in reserves, with 36.4 trillion m³ at the start of this year, according to the Russian system of measuring reserves and for measuring gas. A Russian cubic metre is measured differently from a standard cubic metre and yields a little less energy.

Gazprom said it makes "consistent efforts to develop the new gas production centre in the Yamal Peninsula. The Bovanenko field (pictured below) is the biggest one, and it produced 67.4bn m³ in 2016, 5.5bn m³ more than in 2015."

(Credit: Gazprom)

How much of those reserves will ever be needed is an open question, as some countries move to decarbonise their power sectors altogether on one hand, in order to meet their goals to limit climate change; while other countries shift away from coal to gas.

At home, there are other producers too, who have taken market share domestically, including state Rosneft and independent Novatek, the latter being about to start exports of LNG from its own plant in Yamal later this year and considering bullding a second plant nearby.

William Powell