On Tuesday, the head of Russian state-owned Gazprom’s exporting arm Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova, expressed her hope for the bulk of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be added to China supplies instead of Europe, where Gazprom dominates.
After the Phase 1 trade deal between Washington and Beijing, China has already restarted discussions to buy more US LNG. So far, the US and China have agreed for US energy supply to China worth of USD52 billion in the coming two years.
Gazprom hopes to still have a firm stand in Europe’s energy market even when it still faces lower prices and rivalry from other sources of gas. Its stand in Europe could be harmed if new LNG capacities move into Europe from the US.
Burmistrova said that in January, Gazprom’s exports to Europe already dropped year-on-year on the back of higher stockpiles in the region amid the warm winter.
She further elaborated that the company plans to keep its gas share in the European market at 35% in the coming year after in 2019 it posted a 1.3% export fall to 199 bcm.
Gazprom also stated that it is watching China, where its biggest LNG supplies suspended some purchases on weaker demand and coronavirus.
