Page 125 - RusRPTMay21

data shows, RT writes.
The impressive year-on-year surge, to nearly 53bn cubic meters, is reportedly due to the cold (in European terms) winter season. In March, the shipments totaled 18.2bn cubic meters, reaching an all-time high, the company said.
Germany, the biggest importer of Russian gas, nearly tripled its purchases in the first three months of 2021. Most of supplies were reportedly delivered via the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia directly to Germany, bypassing the neighboring states.
Exports to Serbia saw a significant boost of 71.3%, while sales to Bulgaria and Greece surged 52.4% and 23.4% respectively once the Turkish Stream gas pipeline became operational.
Romania, which has repeatedly spoken of its energy self-sufficiency, increased purchases of Russian gas by an enormous 90%. The supplies are carried out through Ukraine and Moldova, a much more expensive method than the possible delivery via the Turkish Stream.
Gazprom’s exports to Turkey more than doubled in the first quarter of 2021. A surge of 106.6% left the company the country’s number one energy supplier, despite diversification efforts undertaken by Ankara. So far, energy imports from Azerbaijan have failed to squeeze Russian gas from the Turkish market.
In 2020, Gazprom cut gas exports to 179.3bn cubic meters, as the Covid-19 pandemic had a high negative impact on demand for energy among international consumers.
The transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine to Europe rose by 27% on the year to 3.7bn cubic meters (bcm) in March thanks to low volumes of gas in the European underground storages and high demand in the region, Gas Transportation System Operator of Ukraine said in a statement on Tuesday. In January–March, transit amounted to 10.441 bcm, 5% above the contracted amount, the company said.
The Ministry of Energy has prepared a draft oil sector development plan.
Select highlights (according to Vedomosti and Interfax) are given below.
· The key challenges for the oil industry in Russia include bringing wells that have been mothballed back into production in order to
comply with the current OPEC+ restrictions. Some of these wells
might have been be lost permanently.
· Under current oil prices (below $80-90/bbl), it is not profitable to
125 RUSSIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com