In light of the increasing demand for Russian energy products in Europe, the meeting participants stressed the importance of the Nord Stream 2 project. It was noted that the new gas transmission pipeline would not only improve the reliability of gas deliveries but also facilitate the development of the European gas market.

The United States is deeply concerned about the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project as a threat to national security, a senior U.S. energy envoy said on Friday, after the issue was raised at talks in Washington this week.

Russian state-owned oil and gas giant Gazprom is currently working to create a liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution hub in Bahrain. The hub will be meant to intake LNG from various sources, including Russia.

Gazprom reported the average production cost of natural gas in 2015 at ₽1643 per 1000 cubic meters (mcm) or $27.09/mcm or $0.84/MMBtu. The corresponding numbers for 2014 are ₽1470/mcm, $38.73/mcm and $1.21/MMBtu. The cost in US dollars is affected by the devaluation of Russian ruble. The average US dollar rate in 2015 was ₽60.66 compared with ₽37.97 in 2014.

Profit attributable to owners of PJSC Gazprom for the year ended December 31, 2015 totaled RUB 787,056 million which is RUB 628,052 million, or 5 times more than for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The parties focused, inter alia, on the exploration activities in blocks 112 and 129–132 and the joint development of the Moc Tinh and Hai Thach fields. It was noted that the construction of 12 production wells, three production platforms, a floating hydrocarbon storage terminal, and a submarine pipeline system had been completed at these fields. The total accumulated production from the Moc Tinh and Hai Thach fields since its launch in 2013 has now reached 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 1.1 million tons of gas condensate.

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC, which is seeking to boost exports to its biggest market by revenue to a record this year, has said U.S. LNG can’t compete on price in Europe and American supplies to the region will be limited. Russia meets a third of European gas supply, with Germany being the biggest market.

Gas trade relations between Gazprom and private importers are one of the more important topics regarding the Turkish gas market.

Now the two sides, buyer and seller, will have to make do without the safety-net the contracts offered: high gas demand translates into high gas prices for the customers, while indexation to low oil prices would have deprived Gazprom of the upside of a temporary supply glitch or a prolonged cold winter.

Lissik responded that on the contrary, Nord Stream 2 did not enter the EU internal market, and that Russia was not banned from trading with the EU. Economic exchange with Russia was continuing, and it is unfair to project political views and to focus on conflict when discussing Nord Stream 2. “We are trying to depoliticise the project. Its only target is to have a business case,” he said. “This is not the Kremlin.”