The Gazprom board of directors has approved the company’s strategy aimed at diversifying its export routes and increasing the Russian gas competitiveness

With a view to provide stable and well-balanced supplies of Russian gas to Europe as well as to mitigate the risks related to gas transit via third countries, Gazprom is looking to expand its existing gas transmission routes and to build up new ones

It was noted that gas supply alternatives as well as enhanced reliability and safety of supplies were of primary importance to make Gazprom’s products attractive for international markets over a long term.

With a view to provide stable and well-balanced supplies of Russian gas to Europe as well as to mitigate the risks related to gas transit via third countries, Gazprom is looking to expand its existing gas transmission routes and to build up new ones.

A project for constructing a new gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters from Russia to Turkey has entered the execution stage. The gas transmission route will be laid via the Black Sea and will annually supply up to 47 billion cubic metres of gas to the Turkish-Greece border. The gas pipeline will represent the alternative export route, which, in combination with Nord Stream, Blue Stream and the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, will secure the whole Russian gas exports beyond the CIS and will make it possible to abandon the transit corridor via Ukraine.

Gazprom is also focused on supplying significant volumes of Russian pipeline gas to Asia-Pacific.

Work is underway to have the resource and transmission base in place for the start of gas supplies from Russia to China via the eastern route. The agreement on Russian gas purchase and sales via the western route is being formulated.

Gazprom continues to reinforce its positions in the LNG trade and transportation segments, in addition to gas pipeline projects. Gazprom sold 4.5 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas in 2014, thereby having surpassed the 2013 result (2.0 billion cubic meters) more than twofold.

The company is keen to promote Gazprom’s LNG in niche and emerging markets of Asia-Pacific.

The company intends to build up its presence in new markets primarily by the way of increasing its own production activity. Gazprom plans to construct LNG plants with a capacity of 10 million tons a year in the Leningrad Region and the Primorye Territory. The company is also considering constructing a new process train within the Sakhalin II project.

Gazprom cements China trade agreements amid fears of gas export

Gazprom has lauded its position as Russia’s chief natural gas exporter during cooperation talks with China’s ambassador to Russia; this comes as rivals, most notably Rosneft, are disputing the state-owned company’s monopoly on foreign trade

Rosneft has called for greater access to foreign export markets through existing pipeline systems and through more competitive export agreements

The meeting held today between Gazprom head, Alexey Miller, and China’s chief ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, discussed issues relating to strategic cooperation in the gas sector as well as arranging the Russian natural gas supply to China via the eastern route.

This comes amid recent reports in the Russian press that Russia’s largest private oil and gas company, Rosneft, has called for greater access to foreign export markets through existing pipeline systems and through more competitive export agreements.

“It was pointed out that Gazprom made energetic efforts to build the required gas production, transmission and processing capacities in Eastern Russia,” Gazprom said in a statement today concerning the meetings. “Particularly, the preparations for the construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline were highlighted.”

Gazprom signed a USD 400bn natural gas supply deal with China’s state-owned oil and gas firm, CNPC, in May this year. It plans to use existing infrastructure to supply the gas, as well as building a whole new system of pipelines that it has called the Power of Siberia.

Other oil and gas operators want access to these networks so they can access lucrative export markets such as China.

It was reported early this week that Gazprom had petitioned the Russian government to block an attempt by Rosneft to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Pechora fields in northern Russia.

Gazprom believes that increased competition would give foreign buyers of Russian natural gas an advantage in price negotiations – claiming this was the case in its CNPC negotiations earlier this year when a lower than expected strike-price was agreed.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10