Russia’s pipeline gas exports to Europe drop 44% to lowest level
Russia’s pipeline gas exports to Europe fell by 44% in 2025, reaching their lowest level since the mid-1970s, following the shutdown of the Ukrainian transit route and the European Union’s move to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports.
Total pipeline deliveries to Europe declined to about 18 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year, down sharply from historical highs and now routed entirely through the TurkStream undersea pipeline. The figure marks the lowest annual export volume since the early years of Soviet gas supplies to Europe, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
The European Union has pledged to stop importing Russian gas by the end of 2027, aiming to reduce its dependence on Russian energy and limit revenues that could support Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Europe was once Russia’s largest source of oil and gas revenues, supported by pipeline infrastructure built during the Soviet era in the 1960s and 1970s. Russian gas exports to the continent peaked at 175–180 bcm per year in 2018–2019, generating tens of billions of dollars annually for state-controlled gas giant Gazprom.
That flow has since collapsed. With Ukraine opting not to renew a five-year gas transit agreement that expired on January 1, TurkStream has become the only remaining pipeline route for Russian gas supplies to Europe. Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia receive gas via TurkStream, in addition to Turkey.
Despite the sharp annual decline, short-term flows showed some recovery. Gas deliveries through TurkStream to Europe rose 12.9% year on year in December to around 56 million cubic metres per day, and were up 3% compared with November, according to data from European gas transmission group Entsog.
Exports via TurkStream to Europe increased by around 7% in 2025 from 16.8 bcm in 2024, though combined exports through TurkStream and Ukraine totaled 32 bcm in 2024, up 13% from the previous year.
Russia also continues to supply Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) by tanker, making it the EU’s second-largest LNG supplier after the United States. Gazprom’s gas exports to Turkey remain steady at about 20 bcm per year.
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