RUSSIAN GAZPROM'S NEW RECORD

PLATTS - Russia's Gazprom is set to exceed on Friday the level of exports to Europe and Turkey that was recorded in 2016 as demand for Russian natural ss and cold weather across the continent.

Taking into account the nominated volume for Friday, Gazprom will have exported 179.8 Bcm to what it calls the Far Abroad -- Europe and Turkey, but not the countries of the former Soviet Union -- higher than last year's then record high of 179.3 Bcm.

Russian gas has been in strong demand through 2017, with a prolonged cold snap in January and February seeing supplies peak, while deliveries remained robust through the summer as European buyers looked to refill heavily depleted storage stocks.

Cold weather in Europe in late November and so far in December has seen demand for Russian gas surge again.

"European consumers choose the unconditional reliability of our supplies and their economic feasibility," Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller was quoted as saying in a Gazprom statement Friday.

"We are on the home stretch on the way to a new absolute record of annual gas exports to the Far Abroad for the entire history of Gazprom and the country's gas industry," Miller said.

The most recent Gazprom forecast for gas supplies to Europe and Turkey in 2017 is 192 Bcm, while a Gazprom official last month said the expected level of exports in 2018 would be "at least flat" on this year.

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According to data from Platts Analytics' Eclipse Energy, Russian gas flows via the three main routes to Europe -- the Nord Stream, Yamal-Europe and the Brotherhood pipelines -- have already hit 120.9 Bcm, up on the volume received in the January 1-December 7 period last year of 107.2 Bcm.

Flows have also passed last year's total of 118.3 Bcm.

Deliveries via the 55 Bcm/year capacity Nord Stream pipeline to Germany have so far totaled 44.4 Bcm this year and at current flow rates are likely to reach 48 Bcm by year-end.

That would see Nord Stream having run at a record high utilization rate of 87% in 2017, compared with rates of 80% in 2016, 71% in 2015, 65% in 2014 and just 43% in 2013 when European demand for Russian gas was more subdued.

Previously, Nord Stream flows were also partly constrained by the inability of Gazprom to flow more gas via the interconnected onshore OPAL pipeline to the Czech Republic due to European Commission regulations.

But Gazprom was given the right to book more capacity in OPAL first in December last year and again in August 2017 following a series of legal challenges from Poland's PGNiG.

The current flows via Nord Stream are effectively at the pipeline's capacity, demonstrating both Gazprom's desire to use the route at the expense of the Ukrainian network and the strong demand for Russian gas into northwestern Europe.

Gas supplies via Belarus on the Yamal-Europe line, meanwhile, are also close to being maxed out with flows averaging 87 million cu m/d since the start of the winter period.

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Earlier:

2017, December, 1, 12:45:00 RUSSIAN GAS TO GERMANY: 200 BLN GAZPROM - the Nord Stream gas pipeline transmitted its 200 billionth cubic meter of gas from Russia to Germany via the Greifswald delivery point. Русский | English

2017, November, 20, 09:20:00 RUSSIA'S GAS FOR EUROPE UP Gazprom's natural gas supplies to western Europe edged up by 3% year on year in the third quarter of 2017, according to an S&P Global Platts analysis of Gazprom data, as Russian gas deliveries to its core markets continue to outpace last year's levels.

2017, October, 18, 19:00:00 GAZPROM FOR AUSTRIA: +48% From January 1 through October 15, 2017, Gazprom had supplied Austria with 6.4 billion cubic meters of gas, up 48.3 per cent or 2.1 billion cubic meters of gas versus the same period in 2016. Moreover, on October 4, 2017, the amount of gas delivered by Gazprom to Austria since the start of 2017 exceeded the full-year total for 2016 (6.13 and 6.1 billion cubic meters, respectively). Русский | English

2017, October, 6, 12:45:00 RUSSIAN GAS TO HUNGARY: +26.9% In the first nine months of 2017 Gazprom had supplied to Hungary 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas, an increase of 26.9 per cent, or 1.2 billion cubic meters, against the January-September period of 2016. Русский | English

2017, September, 18, 12:25:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR CROATIA Gazprom Export LLC and the Croatian Prvo plinarsko društvo d.o.o. signed a long-term contract on natural gas supplies for the period from 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2027. The annual supply volume within the contract amounts to 1 billion cubic meters, and 0.25 bcm is to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017. Русский | English

2017, July, 28, 09:50:00 GAZPROM'S EXTRA CAPACITY Russia's Gazprom will soon be able to bid for up to 12.8 Bcm/year of extra capacity in Germany's 36.5 Bcm/year Opal natural gas pipeline after an EU court lifted a temporary ban late Friday.

2017, July, 7, 07:55:00 GAZPROM UP 12% "Our gas in Europe sees increasing demand. Gas export pipeline Nord Stream is in demand by more than 100%. On certain days at the last fall/winter season, the flow stood at 111% of its capacity," Miller said.