Gazprom extends supply deal with Gaz de France

Moscow: Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and French gas firm Gaz de France agreed to extend a long term supply contract from 2012 to 2030, under which GdF will buy 12 billion cubic metres of gas a year.

"The development of commercial cooperation with Gazprom serves to strengthen the security of gas supplies of consumers in France and Europe for the long term," said GdF Chairman and Chief Executive Jean-Francois Cirelli.

Under the agreement signed yesterday, GdF will also take up to 2.5 bcm of gas annually from Gazprom's Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Gazprom and Nord Stream's minority shareholders E.ON and BASF say the link will begin supplying gas to Europe in 2010.

The agreement also allows Gazprom to sell 1.5 bcm a year directly to French consumers from October 2007, the second step towards realising Gazprom's ambition of gaining access to the end users of Europe.

Gazprom wants to expand into consumer markets to capture more of the profit from supplying Europe, which already gets a quarter of its gas from Russia.

But some European politicians have said they want Russia to open up its own state-controlled gas market before letting Gazprom expand in Europe.

The deals with Gaz de France follow a landmark agreement Gazprom signed with Italy's Eni last month, which gave the Russian giant a coveted foothold in southern Europe.