The Gazprom Management Committee reviewed the operating results of the Company’s subsidiaries and organizations over the 2017–2018 autumn/winter period and discussed the measures to be taken for ensuring uninterrupted gas supplies to consumers in the upcoming winter.

It was noted that in the past winter Gazprom, as usual, had provided reliable gas deliveries to consumers in Russia and abroad.

Gas was supplied to domestic consumers without limitation. Particular attention was paid to gas deliveries for socially significant facilities, public utility enterprises, and the population.

From October 2017 through March 2018, gas demand showed considerable growth in Europe and Turkey. The overall amount of gas supplies rose by 3.8 per cent compared to the previous autumn/winter season, reaching 107.4 billion cubic meters.

The Company set 11 new records for daily exports to European countries. Specifically, 10 consecutive records were achieved in late February to early March 2018 during a cold snap in Europe. The absolute record – 713.4 million cubic meters per day – was set on March 2. In the same month, Gazprom topped the maximum amount of monthly exports to the region with 19.6 billion cubic meters.

Underground gas storage (UGS) facilities made a major contribution to the reliability of gas supplies. By the start of the withdrawal season (October 2017), Gazprom’s working gas inventories in Russia totaled 72.184 billion cubic meters, with the potential maximum daily deliverability reaching a record 805.3 million cubic meters. During the withdrawal season, the volume of gas pumped from the UGS facilities totaled 48.6 billion cubic meters, one of the largest amounts in the Company’s history. In March 2018 alone, 9.2 billion cubic meters of gas was withdrawn from the Russian UGS facilities, which is comparable to the December 2017 figure (9.3 billion cubic meters).

It was highlighted at the meeting that, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the reserves in European UGS facilities had been greatly depleted due to the hike in gas demand in the cold weather. By the end of the withdrawal season, the working gas inventories were 18 per cent full, their lowest since 2011.

In order to ensure the reliable operation of the UGSS in the 2018–2019 autumn/winter period, the Gazprom Management Committee tasked the Company’s specialized structural units and subsidiaries with the following assignments:

• to stockpile at least 72.272 billion cubic meters of working gas inventories in UGS facilities in Russia, 1.09 billion cubic meters in Belarus, and 0.134 billion cubic meters in Armenia by the next withdrawal season;
• to implement the Basic Guidelines on preparing the facilities of Gazprom’s subsidiaries and organizations for the 2018–2019 autumn/winter period;
• to perform scheduled preventive maintenance and repair at gas production, transmission, underground storage and processing facilities, as well as to prepare transport and specialized equipment for operation during the winter season.