Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom said on Friday it expects January natural gas exports to Europe to decline by a quarter year-on-year to around 13-13.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) due to warm weather, Reuters reported citing Interfax.
The Russian news agency said its January volumes could be the lowest in five years, citing data from Gazprom and European companies.
The company also actively pumped gas into storage facilities in Europe last year due to uncertainty over a gas deal with Ukraine. A new five-year deal was eventually signed in the last days of 2019.
Gazprom declined to comment, saying the company supplies gas to Europe in line with consumers’ requests.
On Friday, it was reported that Gazprom could return to the Eurobond market in February after risks related to its dispute with Ukraine are removed.
Late in December, paid Ukraine $2.9 billion to settle a long-standing legal row, part of a wider gas package deal reached earlier that month. This week, the company said the freezing of some of its assets at the request of Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz has been lifted.
