Gazprom Export: European customers ordering more gas under contracts, auctions not needed for now
MILAN. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Buyers of Russian gas are taking advantage of the opportunity to boost gas offtake under long- and short-term contracts, and in these conditions new export auctions are not needed, Elena Burmistrova, the head of Gazprom Export, told Interfax.
Gazprom Export held its first export auction in 2015, for delivery during the 2015-2016 winter, and another in August-September 2016 for delivery between October 2016 and March this year. An auction for gas in 2017-2018 has not yet been announced.
"We've effectively decided against it for this winter," Burmistrova said.
"I'm not saying we've decided to dispense with auctions as a means of trading in the future, but right now we're having no problems selling gas. And we have enough orders from long-standing clients to supply more gas under our long-term contracts as well as more orders under short-term contracts. In other words today we have no need for auctions as a means of stimulating higher sales," she said.