OIES Podcast – Reflections on Russian Gas Production
In this latest OIES podcast, produced by the Gas Programme, James Henderson interviews Vitaly Yermakov about his latest paper “Catch 22 for Russia Gas: plenty of capacity amid disappearing market,” which was published in late January. In the podcast they discuss the sharp decline in Russian gas production in 2022, reviewing both the overall numbers but also the disparity between output from non-Gazprom producers, which actually increased slightly, and that of Gazprom, which had to play a balancing role. Vitaly discusses how Gazprom has managed this using the flexibility at its major fields, and also looks ahead to 2023 and beyond to assess how the company’s increased free capacity could allow gas to be made available for the Asian market and could also help the company reduce its capital expenditure over the next few years. Vitaly also talks about the future of Russian LNG, especially from the Yamal region, as well as touching on the prospects for a new pipeline export deal with China as Russia continues its attempts to find new markets for its gas as sales to Europe fall.
