Almost 2400 kilometres of pipeline and pumping stations were surveyed and tested by scientists from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, who set the estimated leakage at 1.4%, better than the 1.5% observed in US natural gas systems.

With Europe keen to combat global warming under the Kyoto Protocol, Russian gas has been seen as a strong alternative to current fossil fuel energy sources. Natural gas, which is 90% methane, produces considerably less carbon dioxide than oil or coal when burned.

Methane is a greenhouse gas targeted under the Kyoto Protocol, and European nations had expressed concern that sizable amounts would leak from pipelines supplying gas from Siberia. The report has allayed many of these concerns and may encourage a greater uptake of Russian gas by European countries.

Russia is responsible for around a fifth of global natural gas production, a quarter of which is pumped to the European Union.