Gazprom gas production grows for second month, exports up 5% in Sept
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Gazprom increased gas production by 12% to 34 billion cubic meters in September, following an 8% increase in August, when the Russian gas giant's production grew for the first time this year, Interfax calculations based on the latest data from the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK) show.
Gazprom not only increased production year-on-year in September, it also exceeded its target by about 2 bcm, the CDU TEK data show.
Amid the decline in production, Gazprom has tried to mask its production statistics to the extent possible: in CDU TEK's monthly production report, the world's biggest gas production company is lumped in with "other producers."
Accordingly, market analysts must independently calculate Gazprom's production from statistics for the sector. Gazprom itself discloses production in its quarterly reports (data for 9M will be published in mid-November).
Before August, Gazprom's production had declined for seven straight months. However, gas withdrawals from underground storage facilities in Russia in the 2015/2016 winter season were 5 bcm higher than in 2014/2015, which provided support for production. Indeed, the additional year-on-year production in August and September was 5.8 bcm, suggesting that most of the excess production was injected into storage.
Russian gas exports grew 5% in September 2016 year-on-year to 13.9 bcm, according to Interfax calculations based on data from gas pipeline operators in Europe. In other words, exports in 9M 2016 rose 9.3% to 126.3 bcm.
If in Q4 2016 Gazprom is able to match the results in the same quarter last year, total exports in 2016 might reach a record high 169.5 bcm, besting the previous record of 161.46 bcm in 2013.
Export volumes have been growing at an organic pace of 4%-5% in recent months, giving grounds to expect that the final export total to be even higher.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) publishes the calculated price of Gazprom's non-CIS gas sales each month: the price fluctuated near $200 per 1,000 cubic meters in Q1 2016, declined to $157 in August and rose slightly to $160 in September.
