"According to our plans and economic forecasts, we are expecting the same [gas] export volume in 2015, may be even a bit higher," Novak told reporters in Moscow.
According to a recent report by Russia's energy giant Gazprom, Moscow delivered over 146 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe in 2014.
On Wednesday, the association representing the European gas wholesale, retail and distribution sectors, Eurogas said that European gas demand in 2014 was more than 11 percent lower than in 2013, mainly due to the exceptionally warm winter.
In recent months, the security of Russian gas deliveries to Europe has been threatened by instability in Ukraine. Also, on December 1, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was closing its South Stream pipeline aimed at bringing Russian gas to Europe through the Black Sea.
President Putin cited the non-constructive position of the European Commission, which claimed the project was in violation of the EU’s Third Energy Package prohibiting the simultaneous ownership of both the gas and the pipeline through which it runs, as the main reason for Moscow’s decision.
However, on the same day Russia's Gazprom announced its intention to construct a pipeline to Turkey. The so-called Turkish Stream will deliver Russian gas to South Europe by means of a transit hub on the Turkish-Greek border.
