Russia sets new gas pumping record to cover European demand

Moscow (dpa) - Russia has set a new record on volumes of fuel drawn from underground reservoirs in the face of increasing winter demand by domestic and particularly European customers, Russian government energy data made public on Friday showed.

Draws on underground natural gas reserves inside Russia totalled 565 billion cubic metres on Wednesday - topping a previous 553 billion cubic metres single day record set in January 2011, a report published by the Russian government energy monitoring agency TsDU TEK said.

A statement by the energy giant Gazprom, Russia‘s state-owned natural gas monopoly, said the company‘s average daily production of gas was increasing as well and that the firm expected to meet all demand throughout the winter peak season.

Germany and other central European nations will likely be the top consumers of Gazprom gas in coming weeks as increasingly cold weather moves into the region, a report by the Interfax news agency said.

Temperatures in Russia and in Gazprom‘s important export market Ukraine dropped below historical averages on Wednesday and were expected to remain so over the weekend, which could increase natural gas consumption there as well, local news reports said.

Approximately one-quarter of all natural gas consumed by EU nations is produced in Russia. Delivery stoppages of Russian gas travelling to Europe in 2006 and 2009 - both times because of gas pricing disputes with Ukraine - spiked prices across the region. dpa sbk hl Author: Stefan Korshak