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Landing station of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Lubmin in February
Photo: Michael Sohn/AP
Russian gas exports to countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) fell by 45.5 percent in 2022.
Exports to third countries amounted to 100.9 billion cubic meters, as announced by the state gas company Gazprom.
In 2021, Russia had delivered 185.1 billion cubic meters to countries outside the CIS.
Because of Western economic sanctions against Russia in response to the military operation in Ukraine, Moscow has severely restricted its gas exports to the EU.
To offset this, Russia is scrambling to increase its gas supplies to China.
So far, however, the infrastructure for this has been lacking.
In December, President Vladimir Putin ceremoniously opened a new natural gas field in eastern Siberia, which should bring a noticeable increase in exports to China.
A new pipeline called "Power of Siberia" has been transporting gas to China since the end of 2019.
A second pipeline called "Power of Siberia 2" is to be built from 2024.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said "the prospects of increasing global gas consumption are primarily linked to Asia, and primarily to China."
Deliveries to the People's Republic had already exceeded the contractually guaranteed quantities "at China's request" in 2022.
dab/AFP
