Gazprom Claims It Was Already Targeting Asian Market Growth

Gaprom was working on sending gas supplies east prior to western sanctions according to the companies deputy CEO Oleg Aksyutin.

• "Outside observers sometimes talk about a U-turn in the Russian economy and the gas industry in particular. Actually, the word U-turn implies a spontaneous decision. I think it is not very correct to use it in this context. Gazprom was appointed as the coordinator of the eastern gas programme back in 2002. Thus, diversification of activities in the eastern direction has been going on for two decades," Aksyutin said.
• "From 2011 to 2021, the share of the Asia-Pacific region in global gas consumption increased from 19% to 23%. The largest increase in the share of natural gas consumption occurred in China: during this time it more than doubled from 4% to 9%," he said.
• According to Mr. Aksyutin, the demand for gas in the Asia-Pacific region may grow by more than 0.5 trillion cubic meters by 2040, or 70% more than in 2020.