Russia’s Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe up 13% in 2024, Calculations Show

Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia’s Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe up 13% in 2024, Calculations Show

Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)
Gazprom logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. (Reuters)

Pipeline gas exports by Russian energy giant Gazprom to Europe increased by 13% in 2024 to around 32 billion cubic meters (bcm), Reuters calculations showed on Saturday, slightly more than the 31 bcm supplied to China.

Gazprom's average daily pipeline exports have been stable this December, at 91.3 million cubic meters (mcm), in comparison with November, but rose by 7% from December 2023, calculations based on data from European gas transmission group Entsog and Gazprom's daily reports on gas transit via Ukraine showed.

Its total supply to the European Union stood at about 2.8 bcm in December, the preliminary data showed, including 1.5 bcm, or 49.2 mcm per day, sent via Turkey.

Gas transit via Ukraine has reached around 1.3 bcm this month, or 42.1 mcm per day, almost unchanged from November despite Russia halting gas exports to Austria's OMV in mid-November over a contractual dispute.

Gazprom's exports to Europe via Ukraine this year have reached about 15 bcm.

The transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv expires in the end of the year and is unlikely to continue as Ukraine has repeatedly said it was unwilling to do so amid the military conflict.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new Ukrainian gas transit deal, and laid the blame firmly on Ukraine for refusing to extend the agreement that brings gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Gazprom, which has not published its own monthly statistics since the start of 2023, did not respond to a request for comment.

Russia supplied about 63.8 bcm of gas to Europe by various routes in 2022, Gazprom data and Reuters calculations show. That fell by 55.6% to 28.3 bcm last year.

At their peak in 2018-2019, annual flows to Europe reached between 175 bcm and 180 bcm.



Egypt Completes Trial Run of New Suez Canal Channel Extension

An Egyptian navy vessel see in the Suez Canal, March 30, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
An Egyptian navy vessel see in the Suez Canal, March 30, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Egypt Completes Trial Run of New Suez Canal Channel Extension

An Egyptian navy vessel see in the Suez Canal, March 30, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)
An Egyptian navy vessel see in the Suez Canal, March 30, 2021. (AFP/Getty Images)

Egypt said on Saturday it had successfully tested a new 10 km channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that during a trial run two ships passed through a new stretch of the canal's two-way section without incident.

Following the 2021 grounding of the container ship Ever Given that blocked the vital waterway for six days, Egypt accelerated plans to extend the second channel in the southern reaches of the canal and widen the existing channel.

Its revenue from the waterway, the gateway to the shortest route between Europe and Asia, has nevertheless tumbled since Yemen's Houthi militias began attacking ships in the Red Sea in November 2023 in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday that due to "regional challenges", the country had lost approximately $7 billion in Suez Canal revenue in 2024, marking more than a 60% drop from 2023.

According to the Suez Canal Authority, the latest expansion extends the total length of the canal's two-way section to 82 km from a previous 72 km. The canal is 193 km long in total.

"This expansion will boost the canal's capacity by an additional 6 to 8 ships daily and enhance its ability to handle potential emergencies," the Suez Canal Authority said in its statement.

Earlier this year, Egypt said that it was considering an additional expansion project separate to the 10 km channel extension.