Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country plans to make Germany a European hub for gas exports from huge reserves under the Barents Sea.
"We are going to redirect supplies (from the Shtokman gas field) to Europe," Putin said after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in eastern Germany.
Putin said Moscow wanted to send 50 billion to 55 billion cubic meters of
natural gas a year to Germany in addition to 40 billion cubic meters at present.
"That would mean it will become a major distributor of gas for Europe," Putin said.
Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom already said Monday that piping supplies from the vast Shtokman gas field to Europe would take precedence over sending liquefied gas to the United States.
It also said it would develop the field, which lies under the Barents Sea, on its own, without foreign partners. The announcement was a setback for Western energy companies who had hoped to take minority stakes in the project.
Putin said Russia favored strengthening its economic relations with Germany because it was already Russia's largest customer for energy supplies in Europe.
He said there was interest from German industry in the plan, which he said depended on the realization of a new pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The pipeline is to go into service in 2010.
(AFX)