MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The decline in global gas demand in 2022 may amount to 65 billion cubic meters, while most of this decline falls to the share of the EU countries, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said during the pre-New Year conference call of the holding.

"According to preliminary estimates, you know, the drop in global demand in 2022 is 65 billion cubic meters of gas. And, it should be noted that 55 billion cubic meters of these 65 billion fall to the share of 27 European countries. This says a lot," he said.

"I would like to note right away that 2022, of course, turned out to be a very difficult year. There were literally total changes on the energy markets. And if earlier we called these changes "super volatility", then by the end of the year we began to say that this is simply ‘turbulence,’" the head of Gazprom said.

Miller noted that the global gas market will develop at a high pace, and, according to the long-term forecast, consumption will increase by 20% in the next 20 years. In particular, consumption growth in China will provide 40% of the total growth in demand in the world over this period.

"Therefore, of course, we are thinking about the future, we are thinking about our new projects, we are thinking about energy security. I would like to note that our offshore gas pipelines - TurkStream, Blue Stream - are working steadily," he said.