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tonnes of LNG per year. “In the future large volumes of LNG will be produced under an integrated project on refining and liquefaction of natural gas in Ust-Luga. The planned capacity of the plant is 13 mln tonnes of LNG per year, which is why sales of its products will bring our trade to a brand-new level,” she noted. Asia remains the driver of LNG demand growth globally, with formation and development of new regional and niche consumption centers persisting amid ongoing globalization of the markets. “Today the main part of purchasers under our supplies portfolio are in Asian-Pacific countries. Moreover, we are also involved in the gradual strengthening of our positions in the work with traditional and new consumers in Southeast Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries, as well as with niche clients, for example, in the bunkering segment. Here the regions of the Baltic, North and Mediterranean seas are of interest,” Burmistrova explained.
Russia's natural gas major state-controlled ​Gazprom​ expects to see positive free cash flow (FCF) in 2021, ​even following a conservative gas price scenario for European exports, Interfax reported citing the CFO of the company, Famil Sadygov. "This news largely agrees with our forecasts, which have the company generating enough FCF to pay dividends of 40% on 2020 earnings as required under Gazprom’s new dividend policy (the payout moves to 50% on 2021 earnings)," BCS Global Markets commented on October 13.
The coronavirus outbreak and warmer-than-average winter season in Europe may push Russian natural gas exports down by 16% this year​, Russia’s National Rating Agency (NRA) has warned, ​RT ​reported. Global demand for blue fuel may contract between four and five% in 2020 compared to the previous year, marking the worst decline in the last 11 years, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Monday, citing the agency’s estimates. The drop in demand comes amid ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and as European countries are expected to have a warm winter. As a result, Russia’s energy market could shrink as much as 6.4% this year, compared to the global contraction of five%, according to the NRA’s forecast. In the first nine months of 2020, Russia pumped half a trillion cubic meters of natural gas, meaning that production fell by eight% year-on-year. Average daily production is also down by more than 15%, mostly due to the fall in production of Russia’s key gas exporter, Gazprom, according to analysts’ estimates. While Russia’s gas exports are set to drop between 15 and 16% in total this year, analysts anticipate that they will recover in 2021, when shipments will reach pre-crisis levels of 220.2bn cubic meters. The recovery will be driven by growing demand from the world’s biggest importer of gas, China, as well as other Asian markets. The steep decline in energy prices is projected to cut the revenues of Russian energy firms fourfold, while net sales in the country’s oil and gas sector could contract by a third. However, the situation is still expected to improve as soon as next year when prices return to growth.
129 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ November 2020 www.intellinews.com