Gazprom to buy Central Asian gas at ‘European prices’

MOSCOW: Gazprom said Tuesday that it would begin paying “European prices” for natural gas bought from three Central Asian countries next year, a move that could result in markedly higher prices for European consumers.

The decision “is based on the interests of the national economies and takes into account international obligations to ensure reliable and uninterrupted energy supplies,” said a statement released after a meeting between the head of Russia’s state-controlled gas monopoly, Alexei Miller, and his counterparts at the national gas companies of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.


The statement did not specify how the “European prices” would be calculated. But it appeared to foretell a significant increase for end users. Gazprom currently buys gas from these countries at comparatively low prices before reselling it to Europe.

Gazprom estimates that its average price for European contracts this year will be about $354 per thousand cubic meters, whereas it buys Turkmen gas for $130 per thousand cubic meters, according to the state news agency RIA-Novosti.

The Central Asian gas consumed in Western Europe travels through pipelines controlled by Gazprom.

AP