For Indie Gas Firms, Access Is Crucial

Heartened by the rising gas prices for industrial consumers, independent gas producers are looking to the government’s next step: A law that would give them stable access to Gazprom’s main pipelines.

Combined, the measures would allow the Russian gas industry to meet the soaring demand both at home and abroad.

The State Duma is this month scheduled to consider the crucial second reading of a long-delayed bill that would provide fairer access to trunk pipelines for independents such as Novatek, LUKoil and TNK-BP.

“We have long wanted this,” Viktor Baranov, head of the Independent Gas Producers’ Union, said in a recent interview. “Everybody welcomes this.”

Moscow Times