Page 154 - RusRPTJan23

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
● Gazprom
According to preliminary data, natural gas production by Gazprom dropped by 19.6% y/y to 394.1bcm YTD in December. Gas exports to non-CIS countries fell by 45.1% or by 80.2bcm over the last 11.5 months, the Russian gas holding said. The average daily export of Gazprom gained 30% in December against November to 173.3mn cubic metres. Gas demand on the domestic Russian market contracted by 5.2% or by 12.5bcm.
Germany’s Uniper has sued Gazprom in the Stockholm Arbitration Court for violation of the two companies gas contract, Kommersant reported on November 30. Uniper says that the non-delivery of gas this year has caused €11.6bn of damages, as it was forced to buy prohibitively expensive gas on the spot market to replace lost Russian volumes. Fully expected, but negative nonetheless. Given the massive financial losses being incurred on Europe’s energy markets, we expect many lawsuits to be filed, not just against Gazprom but against any party that can be perceived as contributing to the crisis or benefitting from it. However, Gazprom is the most obvious target, and the issue of the halt of Nord Stream flows – the most visible contributor to the gas shortage (although it started well before Nord Stream issues arose) – ensured that lawsuits would be filed around it. Not surprisingly, Gazprom has been visibly preparing for this event, most notably by declaring a force majeure on the halt of Nord Stream flows in summer, which it backdated to June 14th when flows first began to decline. Gazprom blamed the slowdown and halt in deliveries on Canada’s deliberate blockage of the delivery of a repaired Siemens turbine for the line.
Russia’s gas giant Gazprom set a new historical record for the daily export of Russian gas to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline on December 9,. "On December 9, Gazprom set a new historical record for daily supply of Russian gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. Gazprom’s daily contractual obligations stipulated by the gas sales agreement were exceeded by 16.4%," the statement said.
German energy company RWE has initiated arbitration procedures against Russia's Gazprom due to gas supply disruptions, newspaper Handelsblatt reported on December 5 citing the company. "Russian gas company Gazprom must be ready for new suits from Germany to compensate losses. Energy company RWE has initiated arbitration procedures against Gazprom over gas supply terms violation," the newspaper reported.
154 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com