OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2016. A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Han Fennema, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Gasunie, took place today at the 6th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum.

The parties commended the successful cooperation within the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. From January 1 through October 3, 2016, gas deliveries via the pipeline totaled 32 billion cubic meters, which was 13 per cent higher than in the same period of 2015.

It was noted to be relevant and important to build new gas pipelines in order to ensure reliable gas supplies from Russia to Europe in the light of the production decline in the European countries and steady growth of Russian gas imports.

Background

Gasunie is a European gas infrastructure company whose network ranks among the largest high pressure gas pipeline grids in Europe. Gasunie's gas transmission network has a total annual gas throughput of approximately 100 billion cubic meters. It consists of over 15,000 kilometers of pipelines in the Netherlands and northern Germany and some 1,300 gas receiving stations. The company also offers services in the field of transportation and storage of natural gas and LNG.

In 2013, Gazprom and Gasunie signed the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation. In 2015, the companies signed the Framework Agreement on cooperation in the small-scale LNG sector in Europe.

Nord Stream is a gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas running from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. The joint venture Nord Stream AG (Gazprom owns a 51 per cent stake, BASF/Wintershall and E.ON – 15.5 per cent each, and Gasunie and ENGIE – 9 per cent each) is the project operator.

In 2015, gas deliveries via the Nord Stream gas pipeline totaled 39.1 billion cubic meters, which was 9.8 per cent higher than in 2014.