Gazprom plans increased supplies to Europe in 2012: report

(MOSCOW) - Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Friday it intended to increase gas exports to Europe in 2012 compared with last year, even though it has declined to pump extra gas this winter amid a cold snap.

The group expects to export 154 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe in 2012, up from 150 billion cubic metres in 2011, it said at a closed investor conference, according to information received by Russian news agencies.

The average price for gas supplied to Europe in 2012 is expected to be $415 per 1,000 cubic metres, an increase on the average price of $384 in 2011, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the gas giant.

A Gazprom spokeswoman declined to confirm the report.

Gazprom announced the plan after having refused numerous times to supply more gas to the European Union, which have requested extra supplies in a spell of frosty weather.

The group argued that it could not suddenly increase supplies and had to satisfy its domestic market as its first priority, with Russia also experiencing unusually low winter temperatures.

Gazprom recently reduced gas supplies for several days to the European Union, leading to a significant fall in supplies in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

It afterwards assured consumers that the supply had returned to its normal levels.

The countries of the European Union import four-fifths of their gas needs, with Russian gas making up a third of all European imports.