Gazprom claims to have raised natural gas export to Europe

Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Monday that it had raised its natural gas export volume during the first nine and a half months of the year, reported dpa.

The company announced that the volume delivered to Germany alone had increased by 28.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. A total of 152.2 billion cubic metres of gas were exported to countries outside the former Soviet Union, it said, amounting to a 13.1 per cent rise on last year.

Gazprom published its figures in the midst of global concern about high gas prices. Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations by the EU that it has been abusing its market power to drive up the cost of gas.

The co-leader of Germany's Greens Robert Habeck told German state broadcaster ARD on Sunday: "We are dependent on Russia, Russia is curbing the gas supply. The storage facilities are not full and demand is high."

Russia has blamed the current high demand for gas on, among other things, last year's colder than usual winter, as well as the fact that the global economy is growing again after the economic slump caused by the pandemic.