Gazprom unveils $23.3bn investment plan for 2022

 Russia's Gazprom plans to invest 1.76 trillion rubles ($23.3bn) in its business next year, according to a draft programme the company announced on November 26, up from a current plan of 1.185 trillion rubles for this year.

The funds will go towards upstream work in the east Siberian regions of Irkutsk and Yakutia, where Gazprom is developing fields to expand gas sales to China, as well as towards the Power of Siberia pipeline that pumps their gas The company is also investing in new fields on the Yamal peninsula, which currently produce gas for Europe but will send supplies to China as well if Gazprom's plan for a second pipeline through Mongolia is realised.

Gazprom also said it would allocate funds for processing facilities in east and northwest Russia, as well as for reconstructing gas transmission systems to supply ethane-containing gas to the Baltic Sea. This gas is expected to come from the Tambey project on Yamal that Gazprom wants to develop with private partner Rusgazdobycha.

Gazprom's capital expenditure next year is expected to be 1.4 trillion rubles, while other funds will go towards long-term financial investments and the purchase of long-term assets. Borrowing from outside the company is projected to come to 272.8bn rubles next year.

The state-owned gas supplier often sets a conservative investment programme initially, and revises upwards over the course of the year. In September, it increased its plan for 2021 to 1.185 trillion rubles from 902bn rubles approved in December 2020.