Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom expects to earn a record $64 billion on export sales to Europe in 2008, some 62 per cent more than in 2007, as energy prices beat new records, the company said today.
In 2007, Gazprom's export sales stood at $39.5 billion. Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, supplies a quarter of Europe's gas.
The firm said it saw its average gas export prices at around $401 per 1,000 cubic metres this year.
In volumes, sales would amount to 163 billion cubic metres.
Sales of 50 billion cubic metres of additional gas to the former Soviet Union states would generate another $7.6 billion this year, the firm said.
Gazprom often gives cautious export forecasts as it relies on conservative estimates of gas prices, which depend on international oil products prices and change with a lag of six to nine months.
The firm said its sales to Europe in the first half of 2008 would be close to $33.2 billion on gas sales of 88.7 bcm.