Monday 7 September 2015

Russia-Europe gas pipeline extension deal signed

A shareholder agreement for a gas pipeline to be extended from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea has been signed.

Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, E.ON, BASF, ENGIE and OMV agreed on the amount of shares they will own in the Nord Stream II project.

The Russian gas giant has the biggest stake (51%) in the project while the rest own 10% each apart from ENGIE, which owns 9%.

The Nord Stream II project will consist of two additional pipelines that could transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas.

It will be developed by joint venture project firm New European Pipeline AG.

Alexey Miller, CEO of Gazprom said: "Nord Stream II will double the throughput of our up-to-date non-transit route via the Baltic Sea. It is important that those are the new gas volumes, which will be sought for in Europe due to the continuous decline in its domestic production.

"The fact that the global energy majors participate in the project bespeaks its significance for securing reliable gas supply to European consumers."