Russian Gas Exports Hit a New Summertime Record

Russia’s natural gas flows to the European Union rose to a record for the time of year as the nation starts talks with its former Soviet ally, Ukraine, on shipments to the 28-nation bloc beyond 2019.

 

Supplies averaged 513 million cubic metres (18 billion cubic feet) a day in the first two weeks of July, up more than five percent from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Gazprom PJSC data.

 

The exporter’s executives were in Berlin for European Commission-mediated talks on gas transit through Ukraine from next year.

 

Gazprom, which supplies more than a third of Europe’s gas, plans to beat last year’s record supplies to the region and expand its market share in years to come as EU domestic output falls.

 

The Kremlin-backed energy giant aims to cut its dependence on Ukraine, through which almost half of Russia’s fuel now flows, by starting new export pipelines through the Baltic and the Black Seas by the end of next year.

 

Ukraine has argued that Russia cannot manage without its Soviet-era pipeline network, especially given the risks of US-led sanctions on the Gazprom projects.

 

Another issue is annual maintenance at pipelines which require gas flows to be rerouted, such as the works on the Gazprom-run Nord Stream link to Germany which started on the 17th July.

 

The Moscow-based exporter and its Kiev-based counterpart, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, have been in dispute over transit fees and pricing for years, after in 2009 signing a gas-shipment contract which expires next year. The Berlin talks are seen as a first round in a series of meetings to negotiate future cooperation.

 

Source: Rigzone