Gazprom sees Nord Stream-2 not enough to meet EU gas demand

ST. PETERSBURG, Jun 1 (PRIME) -- The capacity of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline may be not enough to meet demand for Russian gas in the E.U. if it continues growing at the current pace, gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

“We will launch this pipeline in late 2019. Around 2.5 years are left before the launch of the pipeline. If the pace of growth of demand for Russian gas remains at this level that we have been recording over the past year and a half, then, in my opinion, the Nord Stream-2 will not be enough to meet the current demand for Russian gas on the European market,” he said.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

Gazprom supplied 543 million cubic meters of gas to the E.U. on Thursday, which corresponds to the average daily deliveries in the winter period, Miller said.

Spot gas markets in the E.U. showed their ineffectiveness in the 2016–2017 winter period during a peak demand for gas, Miller also said, adding that prices on the spot market were significantly higher than prices under Gazprom’s long-term contracts.

“A spot market is not a reliable source of price formation,” he said.

End