US LNG Destabilises EU Market: Gazprom Export

US LNG exports destabilised the European gas market, the head of Russia's pipeline export monopoly Elena Burmistrova told the Flame conference October 12. She said the sellers were making a loss, exporting well into the summer even after the spot price had reached the historically low levels at the Dutch title transfer facility. 

She said the exports had been a "market spoiler" and "contributed to the turmoil greatly," referring to the collapse in Europe's gas demand in the wake of the Covid-19 lock-downs across the region.

By contrast, Gazprom had behaved "responsibly and self-confidently", she said, and "taken a hit to balance the market rather than pursue a "volume over value" strategy. Its approach had been to take gas from European storage rather than adding to the problem with flowing more pipeline gas; and to focus its electronic sales platform (ESP) on longer-term sales. She said the company stopped using ESP for contracts for prompt month delivery in May. 

She said that there were political as well as commercial barriers to Russian pipeline gas, referring to plans in the US to impose further sanctions on Nord Stream 2, the 55bn m³/yr pipeline that is now almost complete. She said she was "glad to see opposition" to that idea within Europe.