Gazprom gas exports at lowest this century on capped flows to EU

Gazprom PJSC’s exports to its key foreign markets almost halved in 2022 — reaching the lowest since at least the start of the century — as flows to Europe were slashed following the invasion of Ukraine. 

The Russian gas giant sent 100.9 billion cubic meters of the fuel to countries outside the former Soviet Union this year, Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller said Wednesday, according to a transcript of his comments on the company’s Telegram channel. That’s a 46% drop from 2021.

Gazprom’s deliveries to Europe, historically its biggest export market, have been shrinking for months as the Kremlin hits back at sanctions amid the war in Ukraine. Almost all major pipeline routes delivering Russian gas have been compromised in some way, while a number of European countries were cut off entirely earlier this year after refusing to pay for supplies in rubles. 

Gazprom doesn’t break down export data by country, making it difficult to estimate flows to individual markets. At the moment, gas is flowing to Europe via just one of Russia’s cross-border points with Ukraine and via one leg of the TurkStream pipeline through Turkey to Hungary and Serbia.

Meanwhile, Gazprom has been gradually increasing supplies to China, with daily volumes in December topping contractual levels and on some days reaching records.

Gazprom’s gas output has fallen to 412.6 billion cubic meters this year, Miller said. That’s a decline of almost 20% from 2021 and is the lowest since at least 2008, according to company data.