Russian giant Gazprom said that in the period from January 1 through April 15, 2019, Gazprom produced an estimated 158.9 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 2 percent above the same period of 2018.
The demand for natural gas from the national gas transmission system in the domestic market went down by 4.2 percent or by 4.4 billion cubic meters.
According to preliminary data, Gazprom’s gas deliveries to Europe amounted to 56.6 billion cubic meters, down by 9 percent compared to the first three and a half months in the record year of 2018.
Nevertheless, the company increased its gas exports to a number of countries this year, specifically to Austria by 18.6 percent, to the Czech Republic by 47.8 percent, to Hungary by 28.2 percent, to Italy by 3.2 percent, and to Slovakia by 11.7 percent.
In the first half of April 2019, gas exports to Europe totaled 7.8 billion cubic meters – roughly the same amount as in the corresponding period of last year.
At present, 1,025 kilometers of pipes – some 42 percent of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline’s total length taking into account both of its strings – have been laid in the Baltic Sea. Construction of the offshore section of Nord Stream 2 is going according to schedule.