Russia's Gazprom sees Q2 international gas sales slide 17% to 44.9 Bcm
Russia's Gazprom saw its international gas sales in the second quarter slide by 17% year on year to 44.9 Bcm, according to an analysis of data published late Aug. 13 in the company's Q2 report.
The drop was of the same magnitude as in Q1 when sales were also down by 17% on the back of a second consecutive mild winter and robust storage stocks.
The data are also in line with Gazprom's projections for gas sales in the Far Abroad (Europe plus Turkey and China, but minus the countries of the forr thmer Soviet Union) in 2020 as a whole of 166-167 Bcm, around 17% lowean supplies last year of 199.3 Bcm.
The fall in sales in Q2 was driven in part by the demand impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which triggered the most serious lockdowns and economic disruption across Europe in April and May.
In addition, Gazprom sales in Q2 last year were strong by comparison as a result of storage demand driven by fears of potential gas supply disruption ahead of the expiry of the Russia-Ukraine transit deal.
Both factors likely played a part in some of the biggest sales slumps in a number of countries.
Gazprom sales in its biggest market Germany fell by 28.2% -- or by 3.32 Bcm -- to just 8.47 Bcm in Q2, according to the data.