Russia hopes to strengthen its position in the European gas market considering its unparalleled position as the biggest pipeline gas supplier to Europe, Viktor Zubkov, chairman of Gazprom and Russia's special presidential representative for cooperation with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) said on Tuesday.
Zubkov, during his speech at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, said that Europe is the main natural gas market for Russia and will continue to remain so given Europe's growing demand.
'Russia, like many other partners in the GECF, are interested in the growing need for gas in Europe,' Zubkov said.
Russia will continue to construct direct lines, building on the natural gas pipelines that it already spearheaded such as the Blue Stream to Turkey and the Nord Stream to Germany. He said that interconnectors will also feature as part of the aim to provide secure European supply, citing the huge explosion at the Baumgarten gas hub, one of the major natural gas hubs in Europe, near Austria's border with Slovakia, as an example of this need.
'The Nord Stream II and TurkStream are part of this aim. In our opinion, the Baumgarten gas accident showed the need for additional interconnection gas pipelines. That’s what we have been doing in the past years. TurkStream and NordStream II, along with the existing routes, will provide security for the European gas market,' he noted.
The explosion at Baumgarten gas hub killed at least one person and left many more injured on Dec. 12, 2017.
He affirmed that there is no alternative to Russian gas, as LNG is about 40 percent more expensive.
'We think that no one can become a serious competitor to Russian pipeline gas. Although there are all these talks about reducing dependence on Russian gas, but the main result of our cooperation brought a record volume of gas delivery in 2017,' he said.
The export of Russian gas to Europe grew by 8 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, he added.
'Russia proved its reputation as a reliable gas supplier. Almost all of our European customers increased imports last year,' he concluded.
By Murat Temizer and Askin Kiyagan in Vienna
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr