Italy Overtakes Turkey Among Top Russian Gas Buyers in 2019

(Bloomberg) -- Italy overtook Turkey as Gazprom’s second-biggest buyer of natural gas last year, the Russian company said.

Gazprom’s exports to Germany, its biggest customer and the target of U.S. pressure over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, declined by almost 9%. Turkey slipped to third, according to Gazprom’s annual earnings report.

Read more: U.S. Says It Has Thwarted $6 Billion Russia-Germany Gas Pipeline

Gazprom exports to western Europe fell 9.3% to 147.4 billion cubic meters. A warm winter and competition with liquid natural gas — an alternative promoted by the Trump administration — limited demand.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Khrennikova in Moscow at dkhrennikova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net

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