Russian gas giant Gazprom reported a 17 percent drop in 2019 net profit due to lower prices and declining demand in Europe.
Gazprom’s net profit reached 1.2 trillion Russian roubles ($16.3 billion) last year. This compares to 1.46 trillion roubles in 2018.
Operating profits also fell by 42 per cent to 1.12 trillion roubles and total gas sales were down seven per cent year-on-year.
Total sales of gas decreased to 7.7 trillion roubles last year from 8.2 trillion roubles in 2018.
“This was mainly due to a decrease in average prices and volumes of gas sold in the segment Europe and other countries”, Gazprom said.
Sales to Europe and Turkey, which account for most of Gazprom’s profits, fell by four per cent in volume to 232.4 billion cubic meters.
Gazprom said that the decrease was due to “weather conditions and higher LNG supplies, as well as the economic situation in certain countries, primarily Turkey”.
Gazprom’s share of the European gas import market in 2019 stood at 35.5 per cent, according to the Russian company.
The company’s large-scale LNG sales totaled 3.78 million tonnes last year, or 5.04 Bcm, representing a decrease of 27 per cent year-on-year.
China, India, UK, Spain, South Korea, and Japan were the key buyers of Gazprom’s LNG.