The president tasked Gazprom management and the government to draw up a new ten-year development plan for the company. According to experts, the previously adopted project no longer corresponds to reality and it is necessary to formalize new projects, since they are linked to geopolitics.
“I would like to talk separately about the gas industry. “We are now going through a stage of serious changes,” he said at Russian Energy Week. Vladimir Putin. “We are not only talking about moving exports from the West to the East, but also about a significant increase in supply to the domestic market, also within the framework of the social gasification program, which began in 2021 and is progressing at a good pace.”
The president asked Gazprom, together with the government, to prepare a ten-year plan, “the implementation of which will undoubtedly ensure the sustainable development of the corporation and the creation of infrastructure to change the geography of supplies.”
“When I talk about redistributing routes we all understand what we are talking about. Here, our previously traditional customers decided to abandon our relatively cheap energy resources and decided to switch to a more expensive resource. Well, it is their choice, to let them live off this expensive resource,” the president added.
Europe has always been the main and most profitable sales market for Gazprom. In recent years, supply has increased fivefold due to sanctions and counter-sanctions. This year, exports to the EU have increased, but it is difficult to talk about recovery, since the company is now limited to two routes: through Ukraine and the Turkish stream. Yamal: Europe was stopped due to sanctions and counter-sanctions, and saboteurs blew up Nord Streams. The EU itself announces plans to abandon Russian gas in 2027.
The president announced a turn to the East back in 2022. Since then, among the projects they have called “Siberian Power – 2”, which will transport gas supplied to Europe, the gasification of Kazakhstan with gas supply to China and the Iranian route . Tehran announced the prospects of a gas pipeline to the Persian Gulf with a capacity of almost two Nord Streams.
“Gazprom has a long-term development program until 2030, adopted by the management and board of directors in 2020. The developments of 2022-2023 on the European gas market have obviously radically changed the company’s operating conditions and its priorities. in the long term.” — says the deputy director of the National Energy Security Fund (NESF) Alexey Grivach.
Therefore, he points out, it is necessary to change the program or create a new one.
“Since the changes are closely linked to politics and at the highest level, the president’s order was a necessary condition for taking formal steps in this direction. The main ones, as the President said, will be the creation of alternative options for the monetization of our gas reserves in export markets and the active development of domestic consumption. Work is already being done in this direction.” – added Alexey Grivach.
Chief strategist of the investment company “Vector X” Maxim Judalov He argues that the old concept could include Nord Streams and LNG without the task of, for example, building or purchasing gas carriers.
“Most likely (the new plan will include) updated gasification projects, LNG and nitrogen/methanol production, Power of Siberia 2 gas pipelines and Iran. Well, at the end there is a small point about fuel for gasoline engines.” – says Maxim Khudalov.
On the eve of the president’s statement, Bloomberg, citing Russia’s draft three-year budget, reported that another factor contributing to the projected drop in oil and gas revenues next year is the plan to eliminate the tax burden additional from Gazprom. In the period 2023-2025, Gazprom will pay an additional 50 billion rubles in excess income tax to the budget each month.
“This is about the elimination of the obvious irrationality of this stain, which was introduced to remove excess profits. But it was introduced when there was no longer any trace of any super profit.” – says the deputy director of the FNEB. Alexey Grivach notes that Gazprom will use the funds for investments in key projects and additional gasification.
