Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom. Photo credit Gazprom.

Nord Stream 2 agreement signed

VLADIVOSTOK, September 4, 2015 – Project shareholders have signed an agreement for the establishment of a company to operate the Nord Stream II pipeline, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Friday.

Gazprom will hold the majority 51-percent stake in the new company, to be dubbed New European Pipeline AG. French electric company Engie will hold a 9-percent stake, and German chemicals company BASF, European power and gas fund E.ON, Austrian oil and gas company OMV and Shell will each hold a 10-percent stake.

In June, Gazprom announced a €9.9-billion offshore extension to the Nord Stream pipeline connecting Europe to Russia, planned to increase Russia’s gas flow to Europe to 55 bcm (1.94 tcf) per year.

“Nord Stream 2 will double the throughput of our direct, state-of-the-art gas supply route via the Baltic Sea,” Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller said to RIA Novosti at the Eastern Economic Forum, where the deal was signed. “It is important that those are mostly the new gas volumes, which will be sought for in Europe due to the continuous decline in its domestic production.”

Image credit Gazprom

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