MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Amid rumors about troubled talks between Gazprom and German energy giant E.ON on the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field, it was announced yesterday that RWE, another German company, could also be expected to join the project, Gazeta, a daily, reported.
Although RWE chairman Harry Roels denied any interest in Russia months ago, now he says RWE might join Gazprom in developing the West Siberian Yuzhno-Russkoye field that is estimated to contain 800 billion cu. m. of gas. The Russian gas monopoly has yet to comment on the news.
The first company that reached an agreement with Gazprom on Yuzhno-Russkoye was BASF. Last month, the German concern signed a memorandum with Gazprom to enter the list of developers in return for giving Gazprom the go-ahead to raise its 35% stake in their joint gas trader Wingas to 50%.
The agreement with BASF was an unpleasant surprise for E.ON, which was also negotiating its participation in the field and, as Gazprom's longtime partner and shareholder through its subsidiary Ruhrgas, E.ON owns 6.5% stake in Gazprom, saw its position as the strongest. However, E.ON refused to finance the construction of the North European Pipeline and the exploration of the Yuzhno-Russkoye deposit, which is the raw materials base for the pipeline.
The North European pipeline will pass through the water area of the Baltic Sea to Germany's coast (near Greifswald); the gas pipeline project envisages construction of sea gas pipebends to deliver gas to consumers in Finland, Sweden, Britain and other countries.
Possibly deterred by the required investment of $5.7 billion, E.ON was reluctant to put money into the Yuzhno-Russkoye and the North European Gas Pipeline. Instead, E.ON offered its own shares, while Gazprom longed for stakes in its sales subsidiaries like Ruhrgas, or in E.ON UK, the concern's British unit. The talks ended in a stalemate.
Upon signing the agreement with BASF, Gazprom announced that E.ON could still get 25% in Yuzhno-Russkoye. Now that competitor is in the running, the German giant will probably have to back off.
