Xinhua News Agency, Moscow, July 2 (Reporter Liu Kai) According to preliminary statistics released by Gazprom on the 1st, the company exported 68.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas to non-CIS countries in the first half of the year. meters, a decrease of 31 billion cubic meters compared with the same period last year, a decrease of about 31%.

Analysts pointed out that the main reason for the decline of Gazprom’s natural gas exports to non-CIS countries in the first half of the year was that Russia stopped gas supply to Europe through the “Yamal-Europe” pipeline, reduced the use of the “Nord Stream-1” pipeline and transited through Ukraine. The pipeline is related to the gas supply to Europe. In addition, due to some European companies refusing to pay in rubles, Gazprom has successively stopped supplying gas to some energy companies in Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries in recent months.

Affected by the Ukraine crisis, the European Union plans to reduce Russia’s natural gas imports by about 100 billion cubic meters by the end of this year, a drop of nearly two-thirds. According to data from the International Energy Agency, the EU will import 155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in 2021, accounting for about 45% of the EU’s total natural gas imports and 40% of its total consumption.

According to Gazprom estimates, global natural gas consumption in the first half of this year decreased by 24 billion cubic meters year-on-year, while natural gas consumption in EU countries decreased by 27 billion cubic meters in the same period.