Russian state-owned gas group Gazprom produced nearly 498 bcm (+5.7%) of natural gas in 2018. The third gas production facility at Bovanenkovskoye, the main field in the Yamal Peninsula with gas reserves totalling 4,900 bcm, went onstrem in 2018 and reached its design production capacity of 115 bcm (production capacity of 317 mcm/d in winter).
Domestic gas supplies rose by 5.5% (+12.8 bcm) to around 245 bcm. More specifically, supplies to the power industry increased by 9.5%, those to private customers by 4.3%, those to agrochemical companies by 13%, and those to the metals industry by 18.5%.
As for Gazprom's gas exports to Europe, they hit a new record in 2018 and reached a total of 201.8 bcm (+3.8%). The company claims that based on these results, the share of Russian pipeline gas in the European market stood at 36.7% in 2018. German gas demand soared by 9.5% in 2018 to 58.5 bcm, a figure larger than the aggregate capacity of the NordStream interconnection gas pipeline.
As for gas storage, Gazprom injected 72.3 bcm of gas into underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in 2018, reaching the potential maximum daily deliverability of 812.5 mcm of gas. The company aims at ensuring that the potential maximum daily deliverability reaches 843 mcm/d for the upcoming 2019-2020 winter.