Gazprom has staked out a third of the European market
Last year, the share of Russian Gazprom in the European market decreased.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, Kommersant reports.
“Russian gas still maintains leadership in Europe, but at the same time continues to reduce its share. Thus, at the end of 2020, Gazprom’s share in consumption in Europe and Turkey decreased by 3 percentage points, to 33%, the head of Gazprom Export, Elena Burmistrova, said on January 14. Gazprom’s supplies to the EU countries and Turkey in 2020 amounted to about 175 billion cubic meters of gas,” the article notes.
It is indicated that the main contribution to the decline in Gazprom’s share in Europe was made by the disastrous first half of the year, when its own contract model, where contracts with a long lag of price changes have a significant share, played against the concern. According to Sergei Kapitonov, gas analyst at the Skolkovo energy center, as a result, prices under Gazprom contracts were higher than current spot quotes, and buyers in Europe preferred LNG.
However, the expert believes that the same contract model can help Gazprom this year, since spot prices are testing local maximums against the backdrop of abnormal frosts, and prices under Gazprom contracts are more attractive. In addition, the recovery of the Chinese economy, which requires new volumes of gas, can also play into Gazprom’s hands. As a result, Asia could take away excess LNG, thereby reducing competition in Gazprom's traditional market in Europe.
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