By Jack Sharples, PhD, Research Fellow of the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and EGF Associate Researcher on the External Dimensions of Russian Gas

Gazprom Export launched its Electronic Sales Platform (ESP) in the context of an increasingly competitive European market. Sales volumes have grown, and have averaged 2 bcm per month since April 2019. As a result of this growth, the ESP is now a key part of Gazprom’s European sales strategy: It generates additional sales revenues, optimises Gazprom’s use of is physical export infrastructure, and provides a constant flow of valuable market data that informs Gazprom’s wider sales strategy. Sales are largely concentrated in four countries, while deliveries are split between Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian routes. ESP sales prices closely track European hub prices for comparable products, and the sales volumes show that Gazprom’s counterparties consider the ESP an attractive offering. The operation of the ESP highlights the crucial element of Gazprom’s European sales strategy: The importance of nuanced optimisation, as Gazprom seeks to maximise its sales volumes without placing excessive downward pressure on European hub prices that would impact revenues from its hub-indexed LTC portfolio. Overall, the ESP demonstrates how far Gazprom has evolved in the past decade, as it seeks to retain market share on an increasingly competitive European market. READ MORE

• December 22, 2020

OPEC and allied producers on Monday pledged action to support the oil market as concerns mounted that a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic will hobble demand and an earlier plan to raise output from next year would further depress prices.

• October 21, 2020

Oil prices fell 3% on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, roiling risky assets, and as rising global crude output threatens to overwhelm the market’s weak recovery.

• October 2, 2020

The chief executive of Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft SIBN.MM said he expects global oil consumption to return to pre-crisis level in the second half of 2021, slightly later than the energy ministry's forecast for the second quarter.

• September 23, 2020

Compliance with OPEC+ oil output cuts is seen at 95% to 97% in July, according to OPEC+ sources and a draft report seen by Reuters on Monday, two days ahead of a meeting of key OPEC+ producers to review adherence with their production pact as demand slowly recovers.

• August 17, 2020

OPEC oil output has risen by over 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in July as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members ended their voluntary extra supply curbs on top of an OPEC-led deal, and other members made limited progress on compliance.

• July 31, 2020

Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as investors worried that rising COVID-19 cases would hurt demand while supply could rise with a potential resurgence of Libyan oil production, which has slowed to a trickle since the start of the year.

• July 3, 2020

Oil prices were steady on Monday, supported by tighter supplies from major producers but held in check by concerns over a rise in coronavirus infections worldwide that could stall a recovery in fuel demand.

• June 22, 2020