Gazprom tests new ways to sell gas to the EU

Gazprom will hold export gas auction for an isolated market of the Baltic states for the first time. If successful, the company may use the experience to settle antitrust prosecution by the European Commission. The question is if Gazprom will dare, as in the auction for Germany, to demand a premium to the prices of long-term contracts with the risk not to sell gas at all. This is facilitated by the absence of a contract with a major customer in the region, Lithuania, and the decline in oil prices makes the Russian gas the most competitive on the market.

In the middle of March, Gazprom is going to hold the second the export auction in its history, this time for the Baltic states. As Gazprom Export reported on Saturday, the gas supply will be carried out in the second - fourth quarters, the delivery point will be Kotlovka station on the border of Belarus and Lithuania and the Inčukalns underground storage (Latvia). Thus, gas will only be available to customers from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In general, the monopoly will put up for sale 560 million cubic meters of gas, which is about 14% of the annual consumption of the Baltic countries, although the actual level of the sale will depend on the price.