Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 24
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Gazprom filed a lawsuit in Stockholm Court against Turkmenistan's Turkmengaz company June 8, demanding to revise the prices in the gas supply contract, Forbes reported citing the sources close to Gazprom.
Gazprom said in early 2015 that it will purchase only 4 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan and was going to challenge the terms of the contract in the Stockholm arbitration.
The gas monopoly attributed reduction in gas purchases to the fact that demand for Russian gas in Europe and in Ukraine had shrunk, said Forbes.
Due to declining gas export prices in Europe, linked to the constantly falling oil prices, the previously set price for Turkmen gas at $240 per 1,000 cubic meters appeared unsatisfactory to Gazprom.
Having failed to negotiate lower prices, Gazprom unilaterally shifted to payments at European export breakeven price in January, said Forbes. "Gas payments in the first five months of this year have been carried out by Gazprom under this scheme."
Gazprom Export LLC (100-percent subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom company) doesn't pay the remaining money for the actually delivered Turkmen natural gas, without explaining the reason, Turkmenistan's Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources said July 13.
"It is not clear for Turkmen side why Russia's energy giant doesn't fully pay for the received gas," said the ministry, adding that apparently, the company is undergoing hard times financially. Gazprom was the largest purchaser of Turkmenistan's natural gas (up to 42 billion cubic meters) till 2009.
Russia's Gazprom JSC neglects its contract obligations, said Turkmenistan's ministry.
At the time, Gazprom had a desire to buy Turkmen gas, since it was receiving this gas at low prices and got great dividends from reselling it to CIS and European countries. Gradually, starting from 2009, Turkmenistan also started to sell natural gas at lower prices.
However, in April 2009, Gazprom Export LLC sharply reduced the purchase of Turkmen natural gas that led to the explosion of the pipeline, according to Ashgabat. The supply of Turkmen gas was suspended till early 2010.
Despite the contracted annual volumes of 70-80 billion cubic meters, firstly, the volumes were decreased to 10-11 billion cubic meters per year throughout five years. The annual volumes dropped by 2.5 times in 2015 and stood at 4 billion cubic meters.
This is while Turkmengaz state concern for its part consistently fulfills its contract obligations by regularly supplying the agreed volumes of Turkmen natural gas, said the Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources.
However, it suffers huge losses due to the created infrastructure and production facilities for ensuring the contracted volumes, according to the ministry.
Edited by CN