We have scheduled a number of new meetings in the very near future, we hope to reach final agreements," Miller said at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.
Company CEO Alexei Miller has also commented on the construction of the offshore section of the TurkStream gas pipeline that, according to him, will be completed in two months.
"In two months, we will complete the construction of the offshore part of the TurkStream," Miller noted.
Gazprom Ready to Start Gas Deliveries via Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
The Russian energy giant Gazprom is ready to start gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream-2 pipeline on January 1, 2020, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller noted.
"The current work schedule indicates that we'll absolutely certainly be able to start gas deliveries via the Nord Stream-2 on January 1, 2020," Miller said at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.
Nord Stream utilization averaged 80 percent in 2016 and 93 percent in 2017, according to the pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG.
Nord Stream Pipeline Utilization Stood at 107% of Design Capacity Over 12 Months
"Over the past 12 months, the Nord Stream utilization is 7 percent higher than the design capacity," Miller said at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.
He noted that though the design capacity of Nord Stream was 55 billion cubic meters per year, technological capabilities the allowed the pipeline to export larger volumes of gas.
"Over 12 months, we have exported 59 billion cubic meters of gas via Nord Stream to Europe," Miller said.
Nord Stream is a 1,224 kilometer (761 mile) twin pipeline system running through the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast in city of Vyborg to the German town of Lubmin near Greifswald. The first and second threads of the pipeline started transporting gas to Europe in 2011 and in 2012, respectively.
Gazprom's European Partners Intend to Boost Russian Gas Import
European partners of Russian gas giant Gazprom continue voicing their intention to buy more Russian gas, and the volumes discussed are significant, the Gazprom CEO stated.
"We see that the demand for the Russian gas keeps growing. For instance, our negotiations with the [Austrian] OMV [oil and gas] company that we held on the sidelines of the [St. Petersburg International Gas] Forum have proven that our traditional partners, and not only OMV, are voicing their intention to buy even bigger volumes of gas from us. And you should understand that we're talking about really significant figures," Miller said.
READ MORE: Nord Stream 2 AG Built 31 Miles of Gas Pipeline's Offshore Section — OMV CEO
He added that Gazprom's export to the European market would amount to 205 billion cubic meters by end of 2018.
"The absolute volume of our deliveries will exceed 200 billion cubic meters. This means that we'll be on the cusp of exporting 205 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe, or maybe we'll even reach this figure. This corresponds to the maximum annual contract quantities of all the contracts on deliveries to the European market," Miller stated.
"You know that the Russian gas deliveries to the European market amounted to 194.4 billion cubic meters in 2017. This is Gazprom's volume, and this is a 6 percent growth. Today we show the same 6 percent growth. This means that by the end of 2018, Gazprom will have set a new record of gas deliveries to the European market," Miller said.
On October 3, Miller and the head of OMV, Rainer Seele, attended talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in St. Petersburg. The two companies signed a basic agreement on the sale of assets, while the final agreement is set to be signed at the beginning of 2019.
READ MORE: Sweden Can't Stop Nord Stream-2 Construction — Ambassador to Russia
The project's estimated cost is 9.5 billion euros ($10.9 billion). Gazprom's European partners — France's Engie, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall — pledged to finance 50 percent of the project in the long term. The remaining funds will be provided by Gazprom.
The eighth St. Petersburg International Gas Forum started on October 2 and will last through October 5.
The Russian Energy Week forum started earlier in the day in Moscow and will continue through October 6. Sputnik is the official media partner of the event.
