Pipeline gas exports from Russia fell to 30-year-low

According to Reuters calculations and data provided by Gazprom, the volumes of gas exported via pipeline from Russia to Europe have decreased sharply in the current year. The registered decrease is linked to import cuts by major gas purchasers, as well as to damages made to pipelines.

As it was stated by the Gazprom company, gas exports to the territories outside the ex-Soviet Union would be about 100.9 billion cubic meters in 2022. In comparison with the previous year’s figure of 185.1 billion cubic meters, the exports dropped by more than 45%.

It’s necessary to note that direct exports of gas from Russia to Germany, Europe’s largest economy, were stopped in September as a result of damages done to the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. In 2021, a record volume of 59.2 billion cubic meters was exported last year via the mentioned pipeline.

Meanwhile, the previous record low of Gazprom exports to European countries was registered in 1995 (for the post-Soviet period), when 117.4 billion cubic meters were supplied, as data by Gazprom Export show.

Gazprom also stated that it expects to produce 412.6 billion cubic meters this year. This figure is notably lower than the output of the previous year, which reached a 13-year record high of 514.8 billion cubic meters.