Number of Russia’s CNG filling stations triples since 2012

The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information about the development of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) fuel market in the Russian Federation.

It was noted that gas as a vehicle fuel has a number of considerable advantages as compared to gasoline or diesel fuel. For instance, compressed natural gas is 2.5–3 times cheaper than conventional fuels. Its average price at the compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations of Gazprom is about RUB 21 per cubic meter. What is more, the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel causes minimal emissions.

To make the advantages of gas as a vehicle fuel available to as many car owners in Russia as possible, it is since 2012 that Gazprom has been actively and systematically participating in the development of the domestic NGV fuel market.

The work has yielded considerable results. Over ten years, Russia's NGV refueling infrastructure expanded threefold, comprising 728 facilities as of early 2023. More than a half (56 per cent) of them are gas filling stations owned by Gazprom. Private investors are also interested in the construction of gas filling stations under the Gazprom brand name: the first such CNG filling stations were launched in the autumn of 2022, and as many as 11 facilities are in operation under a franchise contract now.

The demand for gas as a vehicle fuel is steadily growing: its total sales have increased fourfold across Russia since 2012, amounting to about 1.5 billion cubic meters in 2022.

Russia's fleet of NGVs is being consistently expanded. There are about 285,000 natural gas-fueled motor vehicles in the country today, and 21 per cent of them are the vehicles converted to gas in the period from 2015 under Gazprom's marketing programs.

Gazprom takes extensive efforts to convert its own vehicle fleet to gas. Today, more than 14,000 motor vehicles which make up 63 per cent of the vehicle fleet owned by the Company's core subsidiaries are NGVs. Since 2014, said companies have saved over RUB 12 billion as a result of substituting petroleum fuels.

Gazprom works closely with Russia's largest automakers in relation to broadening the lineup of NGVs, inter alia, for the Company's own needs. As a result of these efforts, Russian factories have launched the batch production of over 230 natural gas-powered vehicle models by now, which include passenger cars, trucks, buses, and special-purpose vehicles. The parties continue to elaborate the creation of new models of gas-powered vehicles.

In parallel, Gazprom is exploring the potential applications of gas in other kinds of transport, such as railway and waterborne transport. The TEMG1 shunter, which is Russia's first shunter powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), was custom-developed for Gazprom and is currently under pilot operation. Work is underway to create models of LNG-powered passenger ships to run in the waters of St. Petersburg.

It was noted at the meeting that adoption of decisions to increase the amounts of state subsidies allocated for, inter alia, the conversion of vehicles to gas, the manufacture of NGVs and the construction of gas filling facilities can facilitate further intensive development of the NGV market.

Gazprom, in its turn, will continue creating conditions for further expansion of the use of gas as a vehicle fuel. The Company plans to build more than 200 gas filling stations by the end of 2025. Particular attention will be given to creating a core gas filling network along key federal highways.

The Management Committee was tasked with continuing the work on developing the NGV fuel market in the Russian Federation in cooperation with government authorities.