After losing the European market and failing to secure a new contract with China, Gazprom has accumulated a surplus of tens of billions of cubic meters of gas, with Russian authorities scrambling to find uses for it, Reuters reports, citing Russian officials and company executives.
Last year, Gazprom produced 416.19 billion cubic meters of gas but sold only 355.23 billion domestically and internationally, leaving roughly 60 billion cubic meters unsold—an amount comparable to the annual output of some gas-producing countries like the UAE (55 billion cubic meters) and triple Poland’s yearly consumption (20 billion cubic meters).
In Russia’s northern regions, where Gazprom’s fields are located, the situation is nearing a critical point. Previously, half a billion cubic meters of gas flowed daily to Europe via pipelines, but that export has collapsed, leaving officials grappling with what to do with the surplus, said Alexey Chekunkov, Russia’s Minister for the Development of the Far East, at the 2025 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
One proposed solution is using the gas to power AI and blockchain industries. However, Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin dismissed this as unprofitable, noting that gas is too costly for data centers. Instead, he suggested redirecting Gazprom’s excess gas to support the coal industry by building gas-fired power plants near coal mines.
Despite holding the world’s largest gas reserves, Gazprom is struggling to sell its product. Energy expert Mikhail Krutikhin calls the company’s situation “desperate.” Exports to Europe, once peaking at 200 billion cubic meters annually, have plummeted to just 30 billion—levels not seen since the mid-1970s. The Power of Siberia pipeline, even at its full capacity of 38 billion cubic meters, offsets only a fifth of the lost volumes. Years of talks with China for a new gas deal have yielded no results, and a proposed gas hub in Turkey has also fallen through.
“The overall picture is grim for Gazprom,” Krutikhin said. “Its vast gas reserves can’t be monetized. Trust in its reliability as a supplier is gone. Even if a deal with China miraculously happens, the revenue won’t cover the costs of building infrastructure or even the operational expenses of extraction and transportation.”