Gas production in Russia rises 7.6% in 2024 to around 685 bcm - Novak
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - Natural gas production in Russia rose 7.6% in 2024, reaching approximately 685 billion cubic meters, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in his column for the Energy Policy magazine.
"The gas industry is witnessing a recovery in production after declines in previous years, driven by growing domestic demand, the development of petrochemicals and an increase in gas exports. By the end of 2024, gas production reached approximately 685 billion cubic meters (+7.6% compared to 2023)," he said.
Novak's figure could also be derived from preliminary Rosstat data for 11M and final production results from Gazprom . Rosstat will publish the official data for the full year of 2024 on February 5.
Summarizing the year in the gas industry, Novak said, "The development of production capacity continues, particularly with the expansion of gas extraction projects of the Yamal gas production center. Gas production has commenced at the Severo-Chaselskoye field [operated by PJSC Novatek ], with an annual output exceeding 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 0.1 million tonnes of gas condensate. Industrial production of hydrocarbons has also started at the Achimov deposits of the Urengoi field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District [with site 3A being developed by Gazprom Neft ]. The new production complex will provide up to 5 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.5 million tonnes of condensate annually."
Gas transportation infrastructure also continues to develop under the Eastern Gas Program, he said. The first phase of the Eastern Gas Supply System project is underway, including the construction of the Belogorsk-Khabarovsk pipeline, which will connect the Power of Siberia and Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipelines.
The construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant is in its final stages. The plant is a crucial link in the technological chain of Russian gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. The facility's fourth processing line was launched in the summer of 2024, and the plant is expected to reach full design capacity in 2025.
"By order of the Russian president, special attention has been focused on Russian regions' social gas infrastructure development. As of the end of 2024, the level of gas infrastructure development in Russia reached 74.7% (compared to 73.8% at the beginning of 2024). Last year, pipeline gas was supplied to the borders of more than 303,000 sites. The transition of medical and educational institutions' boiler houses to pipeline gas is ongoing. By presidential order, non-commercial garden partnerships have been included in the program. Nearly 23,000 contracts have already been signed with partnership residents," he said.
As part of efforts to expand the use of gas as a fuel, the state program for subsidizing construction of gas refueling infrastructure and the conversion of transport to methane continues. The subsidy program for the production and refueling infrastructure of liquefied natural gas (LNG), launched in 2023, has been successfully implemented.
A draft decree of the Russian government on adopting the Concept for the Development of the Gas Motor Fuel Market in Russia until 2035 is at the approval stage. Its target scenario envisions an increase in consumption from 2.19 billion cubic meters in 2023 to 15.4 billion cubic meters in 2035. This includes an increase in compressed natural gas (CNG) consumption to 8.4 billion cubic meters and LNG consumption to 5 million tonnes, Novak said.
