Russia struggles to make up for Europe's gas export gap

Russia, whose share in European natural gas imports has fallen from 40 percent to 9 percent, plans to compensate for this loss with natural gas shipments to Asian countries, especially China. However, Russia's only export pipeline to Asia, Siberian Power, has not yet reached full capacity.

Russia is losing Europe, its biggest natural gas export customer, and needs billions of dollars in investment and international partners to redirect these shipments to Asian markets. Russia, one of the world's largest natural gas exporters, exported a total of 202 billion cubic meters of natural gas through pipelines last year. Of this, 83 percent was shipped to Europe and Turkey, 13 percent to the Commonwealth of Independent States and 4 percent to China. Russia's share in Europe's total natural gas imports last year was 40 percent. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Russia's natural gas deliveries to Europe via pipelines began to decline rapidly. While the Nord Stream pipeline, one of the main lines used for Russian gas deliveries to Europe, stopped operations at the end of August due to lack of necessary maintenance, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, whose construction was completed, was not put into operation due to the war in Ukraine. Both lines experienced explosions and natural gas leaks on September 26. Yamal-Europe, another pipeline that plays a critical role in Gazprom's natural gas deliveries to Europe, has also become idle due to sanctions, while the company's deliveries from Ukraine's Sohranovka natural gas distribution point stopped on May 10. With the closure of this entry point, the amount of natural gas the company sends to Europe via Ukraine has decreased by about 50 percent compared to May 10. European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on September 9 that Russia's share in European natural gas imports had fallen from 40 percent to 9 percent. On the other hand, Gazprom's natural gas exports fell by 40 percent in the 9 months of the year compared to the same period last year, falling to 86.9 billion cubic meters. Russia is planning to compensate Europe, where its market share has fallen significantly, with natural gas deliveries to Asian markets, particularly China. In a speech on April 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "The supply of energy resources to the west will decrease. Therefore, it is important that we gradually redirect our exports to the rapidly growing southern and eastern markets." Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!