Page 134 - RusRPTJul23

9.1.1c Gas sector news
Gas price in Europe reaches around $500 per 1,000 cubic metres on June 15. Gas prices in Europe nearly halved in the spring to roughly $282 per 1,000 cubic metres, owing to a large amount of gas in storage, record liquefied natural gas supply, and mild weather
Gas prices increased after the Wagner coup over the weekend in Russia.
Natural gas futures in Europe were little changed at €32 per megawatt hour, after rising more than 10% earlier, as investors monitor supplies following the short rebellion in Russia over the weekend. Gas imports from Russia to the EU, including pipeline gas and LNG imports, have been significantly reduced since Russia invaded Ukraine but still represented about 25% of the total last year. Natural gas prices in Europe soared nearly 20% in June amid volatility related to supply and hotter weather as the summer season arrived. Several outages at Norwegian gas fields have been extended, and repair work is set to continue into July. Norway has replaced Russia as one of the EU's largest sources of natural gas imports, accounting for around 25% of volume. Europe's gas storage is almost 76% full, a record level for this time of the year.
Uzbekistan has reached an agreement with Russia on gas purchases within two years, with annual volumes totaling around $2.8bn, the press service of the Uzbek Energy Ministry said in a statement on Monday. "A gas sales agreement has been concluded between UzGasTrade and Gazprom Export for two years," the statement reads. The agreement was signed by Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamahmudov and Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom Alexey Miller, the press service added. "Annual volumes total around $2.8bn," according to the statement. An agreement was taken on supplies of Russian gas to Uzbekistan and a roadmap for preparing the republic’s gas transport system to receiving gas at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16, the press service noted.
Russia can take part in the creation of not only the Turkish gas hub, but now also the Iranian gas hub. However, Russia's help in bringing Iranian gas to the world market looks strange from an economic point of view. Iran is the second largest owner of gas reserves in the world after Russia, and Iranian gas is a direct competitor to Russian. However, there are examples of successful associations of the main rivals for the sake of one goal in the world. Iran plans to create a gas hub with the participation of Russia, Turkmenistan and Qatar in the industrial region of Asaluyeh in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr, located on the coast of the Persian Gulf. This was announced by the country's oil minister Javad Ouji. The region is home to the production center of the world's largest oil and gas field North-South Pars. Gas reserves amount to 28 trillion cubic metres of gas plus 7bn tonnes of oil.
134 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com