Gazprom strikes deal with Dutch

Determined to expand its reach into Western Europe, Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned natural gas producer, has agreed with Gasunie, the Dutch gas trading company, to exchange stakes in a move that would give Gazprom access to the British market.

For its part, Gasunie will gain more access to Russian gas supplies by taking a share in the North European Gas Pipeline being built by Russia and Germany. The deal, agreed to in principle this week during an energy conference in Amsterdam, confirms how Gazprom, a traditional upstream, or production, company, is developing a strategy to enter the downstream market by piggy- backing on some of Europe’s most sophisticated gas distribution companies, in return for giving these companies access to much-needed Russian gas.

International Herald Tribune