In March 2023, Russian gas exports to Europe via the TurkStream pipeline decreased significantly, dropping by 19.4% compared to the previous month. According to calculations by Reuters, average daily supplies from Gazprom fell from 55.8 million cubic meters per day in February to 45 million cubic meters per day in March.
This decline also marked a decrease from 46.4 million cubic meters daily in March 2022. The TurkStream pipeline is now the sole transit route for Russian natural gas to Europe after Ukraine opted not to renew a transit agreement with Russia that expired on January 1.
Data from the European gas transmission group Entsog illustrates that total Russian gas exports via TurkStream amounted to approximately 4.5 billion cubic meters during the first quarter of 2023, a stark contrast to the 7.7 billion cubic meters exported during the same period the previous year. Gazprom, the state-controlled energy giant, has not released its monthly export statistics since the beginning of 2023 and did not respond to inquiries regarding the recent data.
In 2022, Russia supplied about 63.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe through various routes. However, this figure plummeted by 55.6% to 28.3 billion cubic meters in 2023.
Recently, there have been signs of a slight recovery, with exports increasing to around 32 billion cubic meters in 2024. At their peak between 2018 and 2019, annual gas flows to Europe ranged between 175 billion and 180 billion cubic meters.
The current trends reflect a significant shift in the energy landscape in Europe, largely influenced by geopolitical factors and changing transit routes.