Gazprom sees EU price for Russian gas at $180–190 in 2017

MOSCOW, Feb 28 (PRIME) -- The export price for Russian natural gas in the E.U. may amount to U.S. $180–190 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2017, gas giant Gazprom’s Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said on Tuesday during the company’s investor day.

“The price range will stand at $180–190 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2017,” he said, adding that an average export price for Gazprom’s gas in the E.U. amounted to $167 in 2016.

Europe, where Gazprom’s market share rose to 34% from 31% in 2015, was and will remain the priority export market for Gazprom. “Our position will remain stable in several coming months,” he said.

According to the company’s presentation, Gazprom plans to maintain the share of up to 35% on the E.U. gas market for several years.

Oleg Aksyutin, member of Gazprom’s management board, said that the company plans to start construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline in several months.

“Currently, the major part of works on expansion of the gas transportation system has been finished in Russia, and we plan to start construction of the deep-sea part in a few coming months, in the second half of this year,” he said.

In 2016, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement to build the pipeline, which will consist of two branches with a capacity of 15.750 billion cubic meters each. One of them is to supply gas to Turkey and the other to transit gas to the European countries through Turkey. Under the agreement, the pipeline should be built by December 2019.

End