Gazprom Operated in Winter Mode in Summer

Russia's pipeline gas exports to Europe were at winter levels over the summer, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Russia's prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in the annual autumn briefing October 18.

He said Gazprom’s preparations for the upcoming winter have been accompanied by a rising demand for gas both domestically and abroad.

In the domestic market, Gazprom’s supplies to consumers from the national gas transmission system in the first nine and a half months of 2018 grew by 7.5bn m³ against the same period of 2017. This is a 4.5% increase from last year, Miller said.

"The export figures are even better. Our deliveries to Europe over the course of nine and a half months rose by 8bn m³ against the same period of 2017. There is no doubt that, at the year’s end, we will set a new record for gas deliveries to Europe. We will exceed the level of 200bn m³ after last year’s record of 194.4bn m³. Moreover, we are nearing 205bn m³/yr. Those are the maximum annual amounts under all of our contractual obligations for supplying gas to Europe. Without a doubt, this achievement creates a new frame of reference for further co-operation in the gas sector with our consumers in Europe."

This has prompted a rise in output of 24.5bn m³, or 6.8%, year-on-year. We are coming close to producing 500bn m³/yr, he added.

"It should be noted that the preparations for winter were made in the summer period amid the export negotiations on the daily amounts, which, in essence, were as large as winter exports instead of the usual summer amounts. This is linked to a decline in gas production in Europe. One should above all mention the Groningen field in the Netherlands. Generally, there is a decrease in gas production across all main production centres," he said. 

Norwegian production, nearly all of which goes to Europe by pipeline, was also down marginally over the first nine months of the year, according to data released October 19 by the offshore regulator.

At home, Gazprom has injected 72.2bn m³ into underground storage facilities and the company's daily deliverability is at an all-time high of 812.5mn m³, which is up by 7.2mn m³ over last year. In the past eight years, Gazprom boosted its daily deliverability as of the start of the withdrawal period by 31%, Miller concluded.