MOSCOW (MRC) -- According to preliminary data, Gazprom produced 357.7 billion cubic meters of gas in the first 8.5 months of 2021, which is 17.8 per cent (or 53.9 billion cubic meters) more than in the same period of last year, said the company.
Gazprom ramped up its domestic supplies from the gas transmission system by 14.8 per cent (or by 21.3 billion cubic meters) over said period of 2021. As many as 25 Russian regions are already receiving heat supplies, almost a week earlier than last year.
The Company increased its gas exports to the countries beyond the FSU to 138.6 billion cubic meters. Gazprom continues to keep the amounts of its gas supplies near the all-time high level (141.3 billion cubic meters for the same period of 2018). This is higher than the figure for the same period of 2020 by 17.4 per cent (or by 20.6 billion cubic meters).
Specifically, Gazprom increased gas supplies to Turkey (+157.7 per cent), Germany (+35.8 per cent), Italy (+15 per cent), Romania (+347.6 per cent), Serbia (+125.9 per cent), Poland (+11.4 per cent), Bulgaria (+52.3 per cent), Greece (+12.8 per cent), and Finland (+19 per cent).
Gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline continue growing and are regularly exceeding the daily contractual obligations of Gazprom.
According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, the level of reserves in European underground gas storage facilities remained the lowest in many years as of September 13, 2021. The negative difference between the current inventories and last year's level is 22.8 billion cubic meters of gas. Only 62 per cent of the total amount of gas that was withdrawn in the last heating season has been replenished.
As for Ukraine's UGS facilities, the negative difference versus last year is 30.6 per cent (or 8.2 billion cubic meters of gas). Gazprom is actively injecting gas into Russian UGS facilities. The daily average indicator for the first half of September is 325 million cubic meters.
As per MRC, Gazprom and the industrial gases major Linde signed an agreement of intent for Ust-Liga gas processing complex cooperation. The document outlines the main terms and conditions of a prospective EPSS contract providing for engineering services, equipment supplies, and maintenance of gas processing and off-site facilities, Gazprom informed in its statement.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC