Gazprom has invited the French company GdF Suez company to become new partner in the Nord Stream project.
Gazprom leader Aleksey Miller yesterday met with GdF Suez General Director Gérard Mestrallet. On the agenda was the French company’s possible participation in the Nord Stream project, a press release from the company reads.
According to newspaper Vedomosti, Gazprom now invites the French company to become partner in the project, a unique East-West energy project.
It remains unclear on which conditions the French energy company will be included. According to Vedomosti, negotiations with the other project stakeholders E.On, BASF and Gasunie about the new partner has not yet been held.
Gazprom does however stress that it does not intend to decrease its 51-percent stake in the project. That leaves the issue to the other partners which will have to reduce their respective 20 percent and nine percent shares.
The 1200 km long Nord Stream pipeline is to cross the Baltic Sea from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany. The projected capacity is 55 billion cubic meters per year. The pipeline is to be linked up with a pipeline leading from the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea.