Business News
Gazprom announces 15 per cent price hike for gas to western Europe
Feb 11, 2011, 13:06 GMT
Moscow - Russian state energy giant Gazprom disclosed Friday it will be shipping more gas to western Europe this year - but also at higher prices, Interfax reported.
Average prices in 2011 are projected at 352 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres, up 15 per cent over last year, the company said.
At the same time, deliveries to Europe are to be boosted by 9.3 per cent to 151.5 billion cubic metres. Last year, deliveries came in at 138.6 billion cubic metres, down 1.5 per cent from 2009.
Gazprom also said it aims to decrease slightly its gas production due to the lower demand in Europe as a result of the effects of the global financial and economic crisis. Output this year is seen at 506.7 billion cubic metres, down from 508.6 billion in 2010.
But Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Ananenkov assured that the company had the capacity to boost output, up to 515 billion cubic metres, should there be a boost in market demand.
In the meantime, Gazprom has embarked on a long-term development strategy to reduce its dependence on demand from European customers. The company is looking at the biggest market in the East, China, with gas deliveries there to start up in 2015.
So far China's energy company CNPC and Gazprom have not yet been able to agree on a price for the envisaged 68 billion cubic metres of gas to be delivered. But an agreement is expected to be sealed by the middle of the year.
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