Record drop in Russian gas consumption
Russian consumers in September bought 15,6 percent less gas than in the same period in 2008. That is the biggest domestic drop in consumption ever in Russia.
Gazprom deputy Valerii Golubyov in a journal article confirms that domestic gas consumption in September amounted to 19,1 billion cubic meters. That is down 15,6 percent compared with the same period in 2008 — the biggest year-on-year drop in Russia ever, newspaper Kommersant reports. Russia in November last year experienced almost a similar drop in consumption. Despite positive tendencies in 2009, consumption was still down more than 10 percent year-on-year after the first four months of the year, Kommersant writes. Before November 2008, domestic gas consumption in Russia had increased steadily for a major number of years. A key reason for the downturn is that fact that the country’s thermal power plants have significantly cut use of gas. Meanwhile, both nuclear power plants and hydro power plants have increased output.
