According to Reuters’ article published on November 15, 2022, gas production and exports by Russia's top producer Gazprom (GAZP.MM) continued to plummet, decreasing 19.2% and 43.4%, respectively, between Jan. 1-Nov. 15, it said on Tuesday.
Gazprom's exports - and production as a result - have been sinking after the company reduced or stopped supplies to some of its top clients who had refused to switch to rouble payments demanded by President Vladimir Putin in a retaliatory step to Western sanctions in March.
In addition, the Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines which connected Russia and Germany were damaged in September, cutting off another supply route to Europe, and severing Moscow from its portion of gas export revenue.
On Tuesday, Gazprom said it produced 359.7 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) between Jan. 1 and Nov.15, down 19.2% from a year ago. Its export to the countries outside the former Soviet Union was at 93.2 bcm, down 43.4% from a year ago.
At home, Gazprom saw a 5.9% fall in demand which "could indirectly point to a further deepening recession" in the industrial sector, Evgeny Suvorov, economist at CentroCredit Bank, said in his MMI Telegram channel.
Without providing figures, Gazprom said that supplies via the Power of Siberia pipeline to China were growing, with volumes exceeding daily contractual obligations.
The European Union has set a target of ending reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, part of wider Western sanctions imposed on Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine this year calling its actions a 'special military operation'.
