Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has seen a significant increase in its natural gas exports to Europe, with a 23% jump in June compared to the same month in 2023, as reported by Reuters. This surge in exports comes amidst the backdrop of shifting dynamics in the energy market following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Prior to the conflict, the European Union served as Gazprom’s primary and most lucrative foreign market. However, in the aftermath of the invasion, Europe has been actively seeking to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies, prompting Moscow to explore alternative markets in Asia.

According to Reuters’ calculations based on Gazprom’s daily reports on gas transit through Ukraine and data from the European gas transmission group Entsog, the company’s average daily gas exports to the EU in June stood at 81.8 million cubic meters, up from 66.8 million cubic meters in June 2023.

Since the beginning of 2024, Gazprom has exported approximately 15.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe. This marks a decline from the 28.3 billion cubic meters supplied in 2023 and a significant drop from the peak years of 2018-19 when exports reached up to 180 billion cubic meters annually.

Meanwhile, Gazprom has also seen an uptick in its gas sales to China, with exports reaching 22.7 billion cubic meters in 2023 compared to 15.4 billion cubic meters in 2022.

Despite these figures, Gazprom has refrained from publishing monthly statistics since the start of 2023 and has not responded to Reuters’ request for comment on the recent export trends. The dip in exports in June was attributed to planned maintenance activities on the Turkish Stream undersea pipeline from June 6-9.

As the energy landscape continues to evolve, Gazprom’s strategic decisions regarding its export destinations and volumes will play a crucial role in shaping the global gas market dynamics in the coming months.