Rosneft VP Wants to Export Gas to Europe
Rosneft sees prospects for exporting its gas to Europe in connection with the anti-monopoly measures taken by the European Commission against Gazprom, Vlada Rusakova, Vice President of Rosneft said, according to Interfax news agency.
She noted that “the strategic priorities of the company in the field of gas business development are Russian and foreign LNG projects, monetisation of natural gas and associated petroleum gas in the east of the country, both through access to the prospective infrastructure, and through the production of products with a high value added.”
In this regard, Rusakova said: “It is also possible to arrange additional supplies of Russian gas to Europe in connection with the antimonopoly restrictions imposed on Gazprom, provided that it enters new markets and new consumers for whom Gazprom is not the supplier.”
Rusakova was until 2013 head of Gazprom's strategic planning department but switched to become vice-president of Rosneft's gas business. Her words come as the clearest indication of Rosneft's intent since it signed a memo of understanding and strategic gas co-operation agreement with BP on June 2; the MoU signalled that BP would work on marketing Rosneft-produced gas into Europe, but it acknowledged this needs Kremlin consent.
Her hint that Rosneft might create markets for physical gas not hitherto opened up by Gazprom could indicate that it might work with BP to supply Russian gas to the UK. Although Gazprom records sales in the UK, most is gas produced elsewhere in western Europe or imported non-Russian LNG.
Rosneft earlier this year said it aims to produce 100bn m3 by 2020 in Russia, another sign of the growing confidence of independents in challenging Gazprom's monopoly over piped gas exports to Europe.
Russian gas production up 11% in 1H 2017
Gas production in Russia in January-June 2017 increased by 11.3% year on year to 342.543bn m³, according to the country's Fuel and Energy Dispatch Centre (CDU TEK). It also notes that February 2017 had one less day in February 2016.
In June, Russia produced 51.282bn m3, an increase of 20.6% compared to June 2016 when 42.510bn m3 was produced.
Gazprom's production in 1H2017 was 257.052bn m³ (of which 37.967bn m³ in June). Leading independent gas producer Novatek produced 23.367bn m³ in 1H 2017 (of which 3.645bn m³ in June), while Rosneft produced 23.776bn m³ (in June - 3.715bn m³) and other oil firms produced as follows: Lukoil 10.421bn m³ (1.771bn m³), Surgutneftegaz 5.026bn m³ (0.811bn m³) and Gazpromneft 7.224bn m³ (in June – 1.114bn m³).
Operators of production-sharing agreements produced 12.494bn m³ in 1H 2017 (in June – 1.725bn m³).
Azerbaijan Desk