Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Gazprom Welcomes Independents Into Russian Market

MOSCOW, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom offered few plans to increase domestic gas sales, opening the door to independent producers by as early as 2030.
Gazprom called on independent natural gas producers to take on as much as 40 percent of the domestic market by 2030, Russia's Vedomosti newspaper reports.
The gas monopoly said last week it had no plans to increase domestic gas sales for the year. Gas demand in Europe, one of Gazprom's primary customers, is expected by 2030 to increase by 19 percent of their 2008 levels.
The regional energy sector was cast into disarray in the wake of the economic recession and a January 2009 gas row between Kiev and Moscow.
The Kiev gas dispute prompted Moscow and Europe to look for ways to diversify their transit options. Europe aims to diversify its natural gas sector with the Nabucco pipeline, while Moscow embarks on a similar effort with its Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipelines.
Nord Stream, state-run news agency RIA Novosti says, has the capacity to meet rising European demand by itself.
Gazprom announced Friday that its natural gas sales to foreign markets could increase 30 percent by 2030.

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