On May 31, 2018, Gazprom’s management committee completed the review of operating results of the company’s subsidiaries over the period of months spanning the fall of 2017 and the winter of 2018, finalizing the discussion of measures to be taken to ensure uninterrupted gas supplies to consumers during the upcoming winter.

The committee noted that in the past winter Gazprom provided reliable gas deliveries to consumers in Russia and abroad.

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

From October 2017 through March 2018, gas demand showed considerable growth in Europe and in Turkey. Overall gas supplies rose by 3.8 percent compared to the previous fall/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, 2018. In the same month, Gazprom topped the maximum amount of monthly exports to the region, with 19.6 billion cubic meters of gas delivered.

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 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 In March 2018 alone, 9.2 billion cubic meters of gas was withdrawn from Russia’s UGS facilities, which is comparable to the December 2017 figure (9.3 billion cubic meters).

According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the reserves in European UGS facilities were greatly depleted due to the hike in gas demand in cold weather. By the end of the withdrawal season, the working gas inventories were 18 percent full, their lowest since 2011.

In order to ensure the reliable operation of UGS facilities in the 2018 and 2019 fall/winter period, Gazprom’s management committee tasked the company’s specialized structural units and subsidiaries with stockpiling 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. The committee has also resolved to perform scheduled preventive maintenance and repair at gas production, transmission, underground storage, and processing facilities, as well as to prepare the requisite transportation and specialized equipment for operations during the winter season.