Gazprom sees gas demand, output depressed for 5 yrs

MOSCOW, April 9 (Reuters) – Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom believes global demand and its own gas production will be depressed by around 10 percent for the next 4-5 years, its deputy chief executive said on Thursday.

‘A reduction in demand of 10 percent will continue for the next 4-5 years,’ Valery Golubev told an energy conference.

He said the world’s largest gas producer, which supplies a quarter of Europe’s gas demand, would produce 492 billion cubic metres this year, down 12 percent from the planned 561 bcm and 10 percent down from around 550 bcm last year.

In terms of volumes, the drop would amount to 60 bcm – enough to meet needs of a country such as France for a year and a half.

‘Basically
Gazprom
is being
knocked
back
22
years,’ said
Mikhail
Korchemkin
from
East
European
Gas
Analysis,
adding
that the last time when
Gazprom
produced
such
low
volumes
was
in
1987,
when
the
Soviet
Union
still
existed.

Reuters