Russia seeing record gas demand but still ready to boost EU supplies, Novak says

[October 16, 2021]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas consumption is running at a record high but Moscow is still ready to increase supplies to Europe should it receive such requests, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday.

European spot gas prices have surged by 800% this year as demand has recovered after the coronavirus pandemic. Prices eased earlier this month after Russia, Europe's key gas supplier, said it could deliver more, but these supplies have yet to materialise.

"I want to underline that we in Russia have record high gas consumption figures this year, which is also due to active economic recovery," Novak said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel broadcast, according to Russian news agencies.

Russia, whose gas production and exports to EU are already near record highs, has said it needs to finish filling its own gas storage reserves before it increases supplies to Europe's spot market. It plans to complete this by end-October.

Flames from a gas burner are reflected on a cooker in a private home in Bad Honnef near Bonn, Germany, October 11, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

Novak did not say how large Russia's gas reserves were but estimated that European underground facilities were short of around 25 billion cubic metres of gas.

He insisted high domestic demand would not stop Russia offering more supplies to Europe if it received such requests.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Maria Tsvetkova and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Alex Richardson and Christina Fincher)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.