The shrinking gas production has significantly picked pace over the first five months of the year. While Gazprom’s production in January was 14 percent down year-on-year, the production in May dropped as much as 34,5 percent compared with 2008 figures, newspaper Vedomosti reports.
The company is now likely to get its worst year in its history. Production in 2009 might get less than 495 billion cubic meters, which will be lowest figure since the company was established as joint stock company in 1992.
Contrasts are sharp with Gazprom’s ambitions. According to the company’s General Development Plan for the period until 2030, production is to be boosted to between 876-981 billion cubic meters.
In 2008, Gazprom produced 549,7 billion cubic meters of gas.
