Gas demand exceeds Gazprom's expectations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Gazprom giant has fixed growth of Europe's demand for Russian gas, the company's vice president Alexander Medvedev said.



"The demand exceeds our expectations. I am hopeful that delivery growth will compensate the decrease fixed in the first half of the year," he said, Echo of Moscow reported.



Russian gas export decreased by 43,6% as compared to the same period of 2008 and totaled 17,9 billion cubic meters.



The turnaround for Gazprom has been as swift as it has been devastating to the company's business model. As recently as last September, Mr. Putin, as prime minister, flew to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to wrap up a deal that consolidated Russia's strategic gains after the war in Georgia.



Under the deal, to be valid until 2028, Gazprom will pay, on average, $340 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in 2009. The price is arrived at through a complex formula based on world oil prices with a six-month delay. But that same volume of gas sells in Ukraine for an average of about $230, while European prices have sagged to an expected average of $280 for all of 2009.