In Russia, too, the economic traces of the offensive war in Ukraine are becoming increasingly visible. According to current information, gas production has fallen by about ten percent since the beginning of the year. In particular, production at Gazprom is likely to decrease. Russia’s hope is now in China – but that doesn’t seem to need as much gas.
Only 180 billion cubic meters of gas were produced from January to March, the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported on Wednesday. The biggest victim is the state-owned energy company Gazprom, which holds the pipeline gas export monopoly in Russia.
Gazprom recorded an 18 percent drop in production. The minus is also 18 percent at subsidiary Gazprom Neft.
Putin’s confidante even staged a promotion
However, there are also winners: the company Novatec managed to realize a production increase of about one percent with 20 billion cubic meters. The state-owned oil company Rosneft, led by Igor Sechin, a close confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, increased its production more than 70 percent in the first quarter to 19.7 billion cubic meters and over time should make Novatec the top second largest gas producer of the year.
China cannot compensate for losses
The overall drop in production is due to the significant drop in gas supplies to Europe. The Nord Stream pipeline is out of service after the explosion and the Yamal-Europe route, which runs through Poland, is sanctioned by Russia. Gas still only flows west via Turkey and to a lesser extent via Ukraine.
Gazprom is trying to expand its supplies to China, but the volume cannot make up for the shortages to the west.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
