Russia Urges More Gas Links, May Ease Pipeline Access

Russia, the world’s largest natural- gas supplier, may reduce OAO Gazprom’s deadlock on the country’s pipelines and is seeking more gas links to Europe, which was hit over the past month by fuel shortages amid a dispute between state-run Gazprom and Ukraine.

Russia plans to ensure equal access for producers to the nation’s gas network, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at a press conference in Moscow following the meeting with the Group of Eight ministers. Russia also wants to build more gas pipelines to Europe, which receives a quarter of its gas needs from Russia.

“Some countries in Europe still experience disruptions of gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine in January and in February,” Kudrin said. “It’s not Russia that is the reason for the delayed supplies.”

Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer and Russia’s export monopoly for the fuel, cut gas deliveries to Ukraine last month amid a dispute over prices, resulting in fewer supplies to Europe. About 80 percent of Russian gas exports currently cross Ukraine. The dispute has cut deliveries to European countries including Italy, Hungary and France.

Bloomberg