If agreed, an extension of the Nord Stream pipeline will make it possible for the UK to start receiving Russian gas in 2016, the Wall Street Journal is reporting today. BP is now in early talks with the pipeline consortium led by Gazprom.
"BP has discussed some technical and commercial issues of the project, but these are early talks,” a spokesperson for the British oil giant has told today. He did not provide details of the talks.
BP has long been interested in the pipeline extension but has been unable to strike a deal due to a provision in the shareholder agreement with its oligarch partners in the Russian TNK-BP Holding joint venture, which said the company could only explore opportunities in Russia through TNK-BP.
The Nord Stream consortium includes Gazprom (51%), Germany’s Wintershall Holding and E.ON Ruhrgas (15.5% each), France's GDF Suez and the Netherlands' Gasunie (9% each).
The pipeline which consists of two strings connects Russia and its markets in Europe. The 1.22 thousand-kilometer-long pipeline crosses the Baltic Sea to terminate in Germany, the combined capacity of strings is 55 billion cubic meters a year.
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