Gazprom’s exports to Germany break all records, and its investments for 2018 will rise by a third over 2017

1424/5000

Gazprom: Gas exports to Germany break record

Moscow. The Russian energy giant Gazprom has presented its figures for gas deliveries in 2017: the group exported about 193.9 billion cubic meters to non-CIS countries. According to CEO Alexei Miller, this represents an increase of 8.1% compared to 2016.

Miller draws the following conclusions from the strong figures for gas exports:

The demand for gas from Russia has risen rapidly in European countries.
Russia’s gas reserves can reliably meet growing demand.
According to Gazprom, gas exports increased in 2017 to twelve European countries. Gas exports to Germany reached a record level (53.4 billion m³). Although the Group is seeing a growth slowdown there for the third year, the high export figures are an important argument in favor of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline.

Germany as the most important gas importer
Germany continues to be regarded as the most important gas importer for the energy group. However, the biggest growth in 2017 was in absolute numbers in Turkey (+ 4.24 billion m³). In percentage terms, Austria (+ 40%) posted particularly strong growth. Gas exports to Italy and the UK, which declined slightly in the first three quarters, were not reported by Gazprom. In Denmark, the Group recorded a very small increase in gas exports.

According to the rating agency Fitch, Gazprom benefited above all from dynamic demand in Europe and a competitive gas price in Russia. However, at the present time it can not be determined to what extent Gazprom was able to increase its market share in Western Europe, according to the expert Dmitry Marintschenko. In 2016, it was 34%.

Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2

In 2018, Marintschenko expects a slight decline in gas exports to Europe. The reason for this is the increase in LNG deliveries from the United States. However, much of the US liquefied gas is intended for Asia rather than for the European market. In the long term, Gazprom could further expand its market share in Europe by completing the controversial Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines, the expert said.

Investments coming at record levels

This year Gazprom is planning record investments of 1.2 trillion rubles. This is an increase of around one third compared to 2017. A large part of the budget will be used for the Chayandinskoye oil field, the Power Siberia pipeline, gas networks in the northwest and the planned connection to Turkey, the Vedomosti newspaper reported.