Russia to reduce gas exports by about 25% by year's end: Deputy premier

Russia will reduce its gas exports by about a quarter by the end of 2022, according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

“At the end of the year, gas production will be 12% less than in 2021, and exports will decrease by about 25%. This is primarily due to the shutdown of export infrastructure,” Novak said in an interview published by state news agency TASS on Monday.

Novak, however, pointed out that country's production and exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will grow by more than 8.7%, while coal consumption in the domestic market will increase by 6.8%.

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  Russia can export its natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the long term, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with TASS.

"If we talk about perspective, this includes exports of gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan - either using the infrastructure projects of Central Asia, or through a swap from the territory of Iran. That is, we will receive their gas in the south of the country, and in exchange we will supply gas to the north for Iranian consumers," Novak said.

Novak said earlier that Russia and Iran may reach an agreement on swap supplies of oil and gas by the end of this year. "We expect around 5 mln tons [of oil] per year and up to 10 bln cubic meters [of gas] at the first stage," Deputy Prime Minister said.