Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : E. Kasayev
Member of the Advisory Council, Union of Oil & Gas Producers of Russia, Candidate of Science
(Economics)
RUSSIAN GAS sold abroad has always competed with pipeline and liq-
uefied commodities from other suppliers. The United States announces
that liquefied natural gas (LNG) will soon be exported on a large scale
not only to Asia, but also to Europe.
Turkey and Europe stake on Azerbaijan in the hope of reducing their
dependence on Russian resources.
It is rather questionable that Azerbaijan and other players, which can join
the project in the long term, will be able to fully meet Europe's additional
natural gas requirements because of a whole range of political, military
and economic risks.
Supplying gas in the Asian direction is more beneficial for Iran as this is
a premium market convenient in terms of infrastructure. A section of
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline has already been constructed, running through the Iranian territory.
In the current conditions, it would be difficult for both Turkey and the EU to receive the quantities of
natural gas required for their industrial enterprises and households without the participation of our
country.
Gazprom should not be afraid of competition in Europe, but it needs to take into account the ambitions
of its counterparts.
Gazprom and the relevant Turkish ministry have also agreed that Gazprom will get a permit to carry
out surveys in the Turkish economic zone and on the Turkish shore in order to build a coastal infra-
structure, in particular, a receiving terminal of the Turkish Stream project.
During the G20 summit held in China in September 2016, Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan once
again discussed the prospects of the joint gas transmission project. As Dmitry Peskov, press secretary
of the Russian President, said on the results of these negotiations, to accelerate the project the Russian
side needs to get the relevant documentation from the Turkish side.
According to information from Alexander Novak, the project's roadmap is at the approval stage with
Turkish partners, and we expect that it will be approved no later than October this year.
So far the only result of protracted negotiations over gas prices with Turkish firms is that the state-
owned BOTAS company, partly due to a warming period, reduced its purchases from Russia in Febru-
ary-March 2016, while private importers to whom Gazprom is cutting down the deliveries, are
negotiating a consortium to change over to LNG purchases.
Theoretically speaking, Ukraine has a potential for developing gas production, but it takes financing,
technologies, and personnel. Regrettably, the independent Ukraine is lacking all this now. Loud state-
ments about rejecting Russian gas will not last long.
By way of a conclusion: neither Ukraine, nor Turkey nor Europe can do without the Russian natural
gas, because alternative suppliers do not have sufficient gas volumes and the appropriate infrastructure
for launching large-scale exports.
http://interaffairs.ru
Gazprom vs. Competitors in Europe