Russian energy group Gazprom said on Monday that in 2016 its exports of natural gas to countries which are not members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (-Europe and Turkey-) reached a record high of 179.3 billion cubic meters, despite the EU will to reduce its dependence of Russian hydrocarbons, AFP informs.

Compared to 2015 this is an increase of 12.5% or 19.9 billion cubic meters, said the world’s largest producer of natural gas.

Earlier, Gazprom informed that on January 6, 2017 it set a new record in terms of daily deliveries of gas to non-CIS countries, of 615.5 million cubic meters, exceeding by nearly one million cubic meters the previous record which was established on January 5, according to Agerpres.

Experts explain the positive evolution of exports of Russian gas to Europe via low temperatures at the end of 2016, to the fall in oil prices that is indexed gas price agreed in the contracts with Gazprom and decreasing European production.

“This record result demonstrates the significant growth in demand for Russian gas in Europe and our ability to guarantee reliable export volumes required,” said the CEO of Gazprom, Alexey Miller.

Instead, Gazprom’s gas production in 2016 remained at a historically low level of 419 billion cubic meters, in a very slight increase, of 0.6 billion cubic meters, compared to the minimal post-Soviet value recorded in 2015, mainly due to lower consumption in Russia.

Gazprom provides one third of Europe’s gas needs, and half of those supplies pass through Ukraine.