While gas exports to the Russian “far abroad” – first of all EU countries – in the first 2,5 months of 2008 totaled 40 billion cubic meters, the exports in the same period this year amounted to only 24 billion cubic meters. That is a 40 percent drop.
The reason, Gazprom says, is a lower interest in new supplies among European importers. EU countries now increasingly use gas from own reserves, awaiting lower prices, newspaper Vedomosti reports.
The negative trend for Gazprom is worsening in March. According to newspaper Vedomosti, exports dropped 21 percent year-on-year from March 1-16. That is a nine percent decrease from February this year.
Production figures are similarly low. From January 1 to March 15, Gazprom’s production dropped by 17 percent. Consequently, also revenues drop. Analyst Ilya Balabanovsky from the Unicredit Securities says to Vedomosti that revenues for the first quarter of the year are expected a 670-685 billion RUB, which is 11-15 percent lower than plans and 4-6 percent lower than 2008 results.
As BarentsObserver has reported, the worsening results will inevitably force Gazprom to correct its investment programme. However, the company still maintains that it will not postpone the development of the two prestige projects, the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea and the Bovanenkovo field in Yamal.
