Moscow (Platts)--6Feb2012/344 am EST/844 GMT

Russia's gas giant Gazprom had decreased gas supplies to Europe for several days, the company's deputy Andrei Kruglov said Saturday at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a government website said.

The supply was likely decreased towards the end of last month and earlier this month, but the exact period was not stated.

"[European gas] supplies decreased slightly, by around 10%, for several days, and to Poland and Italy for basically one day. But it happened only for several days, the rest of the time [our supplies were] in line with the contracts," he told Putin, without giving the exact time period of the drop.

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Last Friday, the European Commission said Russian gas deliveries were reduced to Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Italy.

"I don't have the exact figures for today [February 3], but yesterday in Austria there was a 30% cut, Italy 24% and Poland 8%," the EU energy spokeswoman Marlene Holzner said at the time.

Gazprom had earlier denied cutting gas exports to Europe, claiming the supplies were at the maximum possible level set forth in the contracts. The company had said then that its European clients had increased gas demands above the contracted levels.

"Requests [by European countries] have increased considerably in the cold weather, much above previously agreed volumes," Sergei Komlev, head of Gazprom Export's department for gas contracts and pricing, said last Friday.

Gazprom was not obliged to meet requests that exceeded previously agreed volumes, he had said.

UKRAINE'S DEMAND ABOVE CONTRACT

Last week, Ukraine consumed 150 million-170 million cubic meters of gas/day as opposed to the contracted level of 135 million cu m/day, Kruglov told Putin.

If the consumption stayed at current levels, annual Russian gas supplies to Ukraine would reach around 50 Bcm compared with contracted volumes of 27 Bcm/year, he said.

Earlier, Gazprom had estimated Ukraine's annualized consumption of Russian gas at 60 Bcm in 2012.

"Nevertheless, we need to help Ukraine and fully satisfy their demand," Putin said.

Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz Ukrayiny said Saturday it increased gas consumption from underground gas tanks to a maximum and dropped Russian gas imports to guarantee Gazprom's supplies to European clients stayed at a maximum level.

Gazprom's exports to Moldova and Belarus were in line with the contracts, gas supplies to Turkey exceeded the contract volumes, Kruglov said.

"Gas supplies to Turkey, both by sea and land, exceed [the contract volumes] ... by around 6 million-8 million cu m/day," he said.

In 2011, Russian gas supplies to Turkey came at 25.99 Bcm.

Under a contract with Gazprom, Belarus will purchase 22.5 Bcm of Russian gas in 2012.

Moldova bought 1.19 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in 2010. GAZPROM'S PROJECTS A WAY OUT

Gazprom could have satisfied demands of its European clients if the company had been given a chance to develop its projects more actively, Putin said at the meeting.

"If we had not faced resistance, we could have constructed both lines of Nord Stream by now. Gazprom would have started developing new fields, including Bovanenkovo, Shtokman would see a more active development, and I am sure, such problems [with gas supplies] would not have emerged," Putin said.

Nord Stream pipes Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany and onward into Europe.

The first, 27.5 billion cubic meters/year train of the Nord Stream pipeline was officially commissioned in early November, when the first gas consignment via the link reached European consumers. The second line, with the same capacity is scheduled to start up late this year.

In the next few months, Gazprom and its European partners are to start a feasibility study for the third and the fourth lines, according to Russian media reports.

Bovanenkovo, with reserves estimated at 4.9 Tcm, is the largest gas field in the Yamal peninsula. Gazprom expects first gas from the field in June 2012, with an initial output of 15 Bcm/year.

Shtokman is one of the world's largest undeveloped gas fields, with estimated reserves of 3.92 Tcm.

The Shtokman phase one partners -- Russian gas giant Gazprom (51%), France's Total (25%) and Norway's Statoil (24%)-- have several times delayed the FID, which is now expected at end-March.

Unresolved tax issues, technical difficulties and an unexpected shale gas boom in the US, the market on which Shtokman LNG was primarily focused, have been cited among key reasons for the delays.

--Dina Khrennikova, dina_khrennikova@platts.com

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