Snapshot
9 Sep 2020

Russia has turned the gas taps down

1 min

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Gazprom has been very successful in boosting gas exports to Europe across the 2017-2019 period.  This came at a cost in 2019 as high Russian flows and large volumes of surplus LNG coincided, driving European hub prices ~50% lower across the year. Europe has absorbed large volumes of surplus LNG again in 2020, but Gazprom’s strategy has changed.  The chart shows a substantial year on year decline in Russian imports so far in 2020, mostly via the Ukraine/Slovak swing route. We are watching closely to see if Russian flows follow prices higher as the Covid recovery takes hold.

Russia has turned the gas taps down