Gazprom to replace shipments of Central Asian gas with Russian gas by early winter - Miller
MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - Russian gas giant Gazprom will replace shipments of Central Asian gas with shipments of Russian gas by early winter, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said at a press conference.
"We encounter a short supply of Central Asian gas every year. The problems with Central Asian gas shipments to Gazprom have changed considering the situation in Ukraine. It is possible to accurately predict that in the coming winter, we will have a deficit of tens of millions of cubic meters of gas. If we simultaneously conceal the difficult situation with Ukraine, we should have every opportunity to cover the gaps in the gas balance with Russian gas. For this, new gas transportation capacities must be created. A reconstruction of gas facilities is necessary, "- he said.
In the last five years, gas exports from Uzbekistan to Russia have plunged from 15.4 billion cubic meters in 2009 to 5.65 billion cubic meters in 2013. The 2013 contract had envisaged 7.5 billion cubic meters in exports. Gazprom paid Uzbekistan $253 per thousand cubic meters in 2013.
Uzbek gas was not supplied to Russia for a total of 40 days in 2013 when the weather was at its coldest. Together with the disruption in Uzbek gas supplies, lower volumes of Turkmen gas, which transits through Uzbekistan, are getting to Russia. Last year around 120 million cubic meters of gas stayed in Uzbekistan, according to the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK).
Azerbaijan stopped gas supplies to Russia this year from January 13 to June 3. The stoppage was attributed to repairs at the main highway from Baku to the border with Russia. Azerbaijani gas is one of the gas supply sources for Dagestan. The breakdown in supplies of Azerbaijani gas has already led Gazprom to think about building an underground gas storage facility in Dagestan.
