Gazprom expects its gas sales to Europe and Turkey to exceed 200 Bcm in 2018 and is closing in on annual sales of 205 Bcm, with the level of supplies now close to the contractual maximum of its customers, according to CEO Alexei Miller.

Russian gas continues to dominate in Europe as domestic production declines, with Miller telling Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday that the continued rise in sales would require a new framework for cooperation with its European partners.

Miller said Gazprom would definitely break last year’s record of 194 Bcm in gas sales — both export volumes and sales from its own storage — in the „Far Abroad” (Europe plus Turkey, but not the countries of the former Soviet Union), according to spglobal.com. „There is no doubt that, at the year’s end, we will set a new record for gas deliveries to Europe,” Miller said, according to a transcript of his meeting with Medvedev.

„We will exceed the level of 200 Bcm and we are nearing 205 Bcm. That is the maximum annual amount under all of our contractual obligations for supplying gas to Europe,” he said. „Without a doubt, this achievement creates a new frame of reference for further cooperation in the gas sector with our consumers in Europe.”

On top of its long-term contracts for gas supplies to European clients, Gazprom in September also launched a new sales platform for supplies outside of the long-term contractual model.

Total sales on the Electronic Sales Platform (ESP) moved past 700 million cu m last week. A total of 22 daily auctions have been held since Gazprom Export launched the ESP on September 20, implying an average daily sales volume of around 32 million cubic meters.