After the start of the war in Ukraine, the group of Twenty-seven has tried to loosen its dependence on Russia, especially in energy matters. Given this backing from the West, the Russian gas giant Gazprom is studying to enter new markets, and plans to implement new projects in the near future, especially in Asia, CEO Alexei Miller said today.
“As far as route diversification, this is always a helpful thing, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Of course we’re looking at new markets, we have a lot of resources and for many, many years,” Miller said at the “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” program of the Rossia-1 public channel.
Future projects
The head of Gazprom, a company that has just turned 30, stressed that the gas company has begun to implement new important pipeline construction projects in the very near future.
“We all fully understand that the Asian market is currently the most dynamic market in the world. Consumption volumes are growing and we see very good prospects for Russian gas in this market,” he stressed.
During the last 30 years, gas consumption in the world has almost doubled, according to Gazprom, and more than a third (35%) of the growth corresponded to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It is expected that in the next 20 years, global gas consumption will continue to grow and by 2040 it may exceed the 2022 level by approximately 20%.
More than half of the growth came from Asia-Pacific countries, and China will be the locomotive. Since 2019, the company has been supplying gas to Chinese consumers through the Fuerza de Siberia gas pipeline. The volume of deliveries under a long-term contract, once the maximum capacity is reached, will amount to 38,000 million cubic meters per year.
In February 2022, the second long-term gas purchase contract was made. The “Far East” route will supply China with 10 billion cubic meters a year. The project is currently in the infrastructure design phase. In addition, there are negotiations on a project to supply up to 50 billion cubic meters of gas to China through Mongolia.
