Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told JEE News that Russia could send its natural gas to markets in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Novak said Russia could use the infrastructure in Central Asia or send gas in return from Iranian territory.
On December 5, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Mossadegh Malik, said that talks are underway with Russian private firms to import liquefied natural gas (LNG). He added that Islamabad has also contacted Russian state-owned LNG producers.
The Minister of State said that significant progress has been made in discussions with Moscow on pipeline projects.
During talks on gas pipeline projects, Moscow asked Pakistan to first honor its commitment to the flagship Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project from Karachi to Lahore, Punjab.
In response, the Pakistani team suggested changing the model of the PSGP project. The Russian side said that the model of the project under the GTG (Government to Government) arrangement has already been decided, except for some provisions of the shareholding agreement, which will be finalized soon.
Meanwhile, on September 18, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif also said that “Russia has proposed to extend its gas pipelines infrastructure to Central Asian states to provide gas supplies to Pakistan via Afghanistan.” can be extended to”.
Russia will restore gas supplies to Europe.
Additionally, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister said that Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
“The European market is relevant, because gas shortages persist, and we have every chance to resume supplies,” JEE News quoted Novak as saying in remarks published by the agency on Sunday.
“For example, the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which was stopped for political reasons, is still unused.”
The Yamal-Europe pipeline normally flows west, but has been largely reversed since December 2021 as Poland turned away from purchases from Russia in favor of drawing on gas stored in Germany.
In May, Warsaw terminated its agreement with Russia, after rejecting Moscow’s demand that it pay in rubles.
Russian supplier Gazprom responded by cutting supplies and also said it would no longer be able to export gas through Poland after Moscow imposed sanctions on the firm that owns the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Novak also reiterated that Moscow is discussing additional gas supplies after Turkey builds a hub there.
He also said Moscow expects to ship 21 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in 2022.
“This year we were able to significantly increase LNG supplies to Europe,” Novak said. “They increased to 19.4 bcm in the 11 months to 2022, with 21 bcm expected by the end of the year.”
Novak also said that Russia had agreed with Azerbaijan to increase gas supplies for its domestic use.
“In the future, when they increase gas production, we will be able to exchange,” he said.
He said that Moscow is also discussing more of its gas supplies to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
