Average daily natural gas supplies to Europe by Russian energy giant Gazprom over Dec. 1-17 were up 3.5% from average November levels, Reuters calculations showed on Monday.

The calculations, based on data from European gas transmission group Entsog and Gazprom's daily reports on gas transit via Ukraine, showed that average daily pipeline exports of Russian gas to Europe rose to 87.6 million cubic metres (mcm) for the period, up from 84.6 mcm in November.

Gazprom has not published its own statistics since the start of the year. The company has not replied to a request for comment.

Total Gazprom supplies to the European Union via the Turkish Stream and Ukraine over Dec. 1-17 reached 1.49 billion cubic metres (bcm). Exports for the whole of November stood at 2.54 bcm.

Gazprom's natural gas exports to Europe so far this year have reached about 27.2 bcm.

If supplies remain around the current rate until the end of the year, the figure for the whole of 2023 could fall by more than half to 28-29 bcm from 62 bcm in 2022.

Russian gas exports to Europe, once its primary supply market, have been declining because of political fallout over the conflict in Ukraine.

It peaked 2018-2019, when annual flows reached 175-180 bcm. (Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by David Goodman)