Page 96 - RusRPTAug19

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
● Gazprom
Gas exports to the EU in 1H19 dropped 5.9% y/y to 95.4bcm, Vedomosti reports. Despite that, in June, supplies to Europe improved compared with the soft winter volumes and declined just 2.1% y/y. That was driven by European gas prices declining to $120/kcm, which put pressure on the profitability of LNG supplies to the region, Kommersant reports. At the same time, in 1H19 Gazprom increased production 2.3% to an eight-year record of 258.7bcm, as the company was actively filling European gas storages. On 28 June, during the AGM, the company forecasted total supplies to the EU for this year at 198.6-201.1bcm/a, while in the medium term the company guides for supplies of 194-204bcm/a.
On Friday 26 July, Gazprom sold a 2.9% ownership stake in the company in a single package for RUB139bn to an unknown investor. The shares belonged to Gazprom’s subsidiaries, Gazprom Gerosgaz Holdings BV and Rosingaz Limited. Bankers estimate that the placement might result in a $555mn gain in Gazprom’s profits in 3Q19, which would represent a 2.4% increase in the company’s net income in 2019.
Russian gas giant Gazprom has signed a 5-year contract to buy up to 5.5bn cubic meters of Turkmen gas annually, Gazprom said in a statement on Wednesday. “On July 1, Gazprom group signed a contract on the purchase of natural gas from Turkmengaz for five years (until June 30, 2024). In accordance with the contract, the volume of gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Gazprom’s portfolio will amount to up to 5.5bn cubic meters per year,” the statement said. Gazprom said in April that it resumed purchases of Turkmen gas after a 3-year break. Gazprom Export then signed a contract with Turkmengaz on gas purchases until June 30. The volume of gas supplies from April 15 through June 30 amounted to 1.2bn cubic meters.
Gazprom’s revenues from natural gas exports in the second quarter of 2019 amounted to $8.7bn, a decrease of 38% compared with the first quarter and 21% compared with the second quarter of 2018, according to an estimate of the Central Bank. In the first quarter, revenues from gas exports were 11% higher than the same period last year and amounted to $14.1bn. In general, for the first half of the year, revenues decreased by 3.8%, to $22.8bn. According to preliminary data from Gazprom, gas exports to non-CIS countries in January-June 2019 decreased by 5.9% compared to the same period last year – to 95.3bn cubic meters. In 2018, Gazprom increased gas exports to non-CIS countries by 3.8% to a record 201.8bn cubic meters. The head of the company Alexey Miller at the end of June said that in 2019 this figure is expected to be within 198.6-201.1bn cubic meters.
Gazprom’s gas sales via the electronic sales platform (ESP) have reached 10bcm since September 2018, or 8.5% of the gas sold to Europe during this period, according to Kommersant, citing Gazprom Export. Monthly gas sales have reached 2bcm over the last two months. The gas was mainly sold for delivery to Germany, Austria and Slovakia. In Slovakia, this gas might be bought by traders and resold to Ukraine, the paper writes. Gas sales via ESP are low margin for the company, with prices standing well below the long-
96 RUSSIA Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com