Marcel Salikhov, President of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Lenta.ru about Gazprom's possibilities to increase gas supplies to Europe.
Gazprom may refuse to increase supplies to Europe due to the priority of pumping resources into Russian underground gas storages (UGS), Marcel Salikhov says. In a conversation with Lenta.ru, he added that the company has produced a record amount of gas this year, but as demand has grown sharply, energy resources may not be enough to heat Europe.
He clarified that Gazprom may negotiate an increase in supplies, but the outcome is unknown. According to the economist, the fact is that the company produced a record amount of gas this year, but demand also grew sharply: supplies to domestic markets increased by 20 percent compared to last year and by 7 percent compared to 2019.
“In recent months, it may simply not have been possible to increase flows to Europe, because gas demand is also seriously affected by seasonality. The idea of many that the gas pipe is endless and the resources in it never end is fundamentally wrong. However, the heating season has already begun, UGS facilities have been pumped in, so maybe the opportunity to help Europe will appear”, Salikhov suggested.
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