Gazprom Hails 1 Year of Electronic Sales
Russia’s Gazprom has hailed the first anniversary of the launch of its electronic sales platform (ESP) for natural gas sales in Europe.
Over 12.7bn m3 of gas have been sold at the platform over the past year, Gazprom Export reported on September 20, equal to more than 6% of the company’s annual gas exports to Europe of 200bn m3.
62 companies have signed up to use ESP, which offers them options ranging from day-ahead to quarter-ahead delivery at 10 delivery points, it said.
“During the first year of its operation, the electronic sales platform has proven to be an effective addition to our supplies under long-term contracts,” Gazprom Export’s director general Elena Burmistrova commented. “This instrument reduces intra-day and seasonal volatility on the physical gas markets.”
She added that Gazprom wanted to expand the geographical area the platform provides gas to and enhance delivery terms further.
ESP has helped Gazprom utilise spare pipeline capacity and sells to customers otherwise unable or unwilling to buy Russian gas under long-term contracts. The platform initially offered delivery only in the next month and the month after that, but broadened the choice of options at a later stage. In March, it announced its first ruble-denominated sale.
ESP sold 1.54bn m3 of gas in August, down from 2.79bn m3 in July. Volumes reached 64.8bn m3 on September 19, including 6.8bn m3 for day-ahead and 58bn m3 for October delivery.