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Russia Has a Gas Problem Nearly the Size of Exports to Europe

  • Gazprom has just 2 months to build record inventory in Russia
  • That means storing supply equal to 80% of Western Europe flows
The control room of the Gazprom PJSC gas drilling rig in the Kovyktinskoye gas field.

The control room of the Gazprom PJSC gas drilling rig in the Kovyktinskoye gas field.

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
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Gazprom PJSC needs to store nearly as much natural gas at home to keep Russians warm this winter as it currently ships to its top customer Western Europe every day, Bloomberg calculations show.

The Russian gas giant has just two months to build its depleted inventories to the record levels it’s targeting, a goal the Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov expects Gazprom to meet. That will require pumping into underground storages sites in Russia supplies equal to about 80% of daily exports to Western Europe.