Gazprom's next gas battle
The Russian giant is ready to defend its market share in Europe and face off the threat of American LNG
The past twelve months have been something of a curate's egg for Gazprom—good in parts. The company has managed to halt its recent production decline with a small rebound in output to just under 420bn cubic metres, but has struggled in several business segments. Sales to former Soviet Union countries fell sharply as Ukraine made a determined effort to reduce imports from Russia to zero; domestic market share fell again; two liquefied natural gas projects (Baltic LNG and Sakhalin 2 expansion) were delayed again, this time until 2023-24; and negotiations with China over a second export pipeline have dragged, while the start of supplies under the first contract (via Power of Siberia) seem to be
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
