In 2018, Gazprom increased gas exports to France by 5.4 per cent as compared to 2017 – up to 12.9 billion cubic meters. This upward trend has remained throughout early 2019: according to provisional estimates, Gazprom exported 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas from January 1 to March 14, 2019, showing a 1.9 per cent increase compared to the same period of 2018.

OGJ - Stephen Blank, senior fellow for Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council, said, “Nord Stream 2 clearly is a threat to Europe, which is why the Trump administration opposes it. We have now threatened that if Nord Stream 2 is built, the US will impose sanctions not just on the project, but also on the contractors.”

GAZPROM - Particular attention at the meeting was paid to the progress of the Nord Stream 2 project. It was stressed that pipelaying works in the Baltic Sea were going according to schedule.

REUTERS - Russia's planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline direct to Germany is set to face EU market rules after negotiators agreed informally to change the EU's gas directive to apply to offshore gas links, the European Commission said late Tuesday.

REUTERS - Nord Stream 2 has divided the EU, with German opposition to the new draft rules stalling discussions since it was proposed by the EU executive in November 2017.

REUTERS - The pipeline project, which is majority owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, plans to tap lenders this year, a spokesman for Nord Stream 2 told Reuters. He did not comment on the risk of new sanctions.

REUTERS - Germany will not become dependent on Russia for gas due to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, stressing that it was crucial to ensure Ukraine remained a transit country for gas.

GAZPROM - Particular attention at the meeting was paid to the growing demand for gas supplied by Gazprom to Austria. In the period from January 1 through January 27, 2019, gas exports totaled an estimated 1.2 billion cubic meters, an increase of 35 per cent from the same period of last year.

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom Export believes that the record high gas sales of 200 Bcm in Europe and Turkey last year represented a "new reality" for Russian gas exports. Speaking Tuesday at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, CEO Elena Burmistrova also said she expected gas sales to remain at current levels over the next few years.

PLATTS - Natural gas flows via the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany totaled 58.8 Bcm in 2018 -- 3.8 Bcm higher than its nameplate capacity of 55 Bcm/year -- according to the operator of the pipeline.