Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) has lowered its 2008 production forecast the Interfax news agency said late Thursday, citing a company official.
The new forecast is for annual production of between 552 billion and 553 billion cubic meters from an earlier estimate of 561 billion cubic meters. It is based on output as of the end of November and December's initial production forecast, Gazprom's head of gas, condensate and oil production department, Alexander Kalinkin, said.
In June, Gazprom increased its 2008 production forecast, as it began operating big deposits at its Kharvutinskoye and Yuzhno-Russkoye fields.
Gazprom, the world's biggest producer of natural gas, supplies a quarter of Europe's gas.
The company's Chief Executive Alexei Miller said earlier this month that Gazprom has enough capacity to increase production and that it will produce as much gas as its customers need next year.
In the next decade, Gazprom plans to open new strategic regions on the Yamal Peninsula, the Barents Sea shelf, in East Siberia and in the Far East.
Gazprom said earlier it plans production to reach 570 billion cubic meters in 2010, 610 billion-615 billion cubic meters in 2015 and 650 billion-670 billion cubic meters in 2020.