BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.28. Assuming that flows to the European Union continue at their current level, Russian piped gas deliveries to OECD Europe would drop by almost 40% (or 30 bcm) in 2023 compared with 2022, Trend reports via the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"Russian piped gas supplies to the European Union could cease completely, which would put further pressure on markets. LNG imports are expected to increase by close to 7%, although a stronger recovery in China’s LNG imports would limit this growth to just 3%," reads the IEA report.
The report reveals that Russia’s piped gas exports to OECD Europe fell by an estimated 50% (83 bcm) y-o-y in 2022, to their lowest level since the mid-1980s.
"While deliveries to Türkiye declined by 18% y-o-y, gas supplies to the European Union more than halved, translating into a drop of 78 bcm compared with 2021. Gazprom unilaterally cut gas supplies to several EU member states during Q2, following their refusal to adhere to a new payment system imposed by Russia. Russia introduced a range of sanctions on European companies in May, following which Gazprom announced that it would cease to use the Yamal–Europe pipeline. Gazprom gradually reduced gas flows via Nord Stream from mid-June and by the end of August had halted gas supplies completely via the pipeline. Hence, only three pipeline systems – the Ukraine transit route, Blue Stream and TurkStream – remained operational from September. Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 suffered an act of sabotage at the end of September, with preliminary investigation finding traces of explosives. Russian piped gas supplies to OECD Europe fell by an estimated 70% (25 bcm) y-o-y in Q4 2022."