Russia’s state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom signed a deal on Tuesday with French state-owned gas utility Gas de France to supply natural gas for 24 years, granting Gazprom access to France’s retail gas market, the Associated Press reports.
Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller hailed the agreement as “another step in the development of a reliable long-term partnership between Russia and France, “ according to the company’s statement.
The deal allows Gazprom to conduct direct deliveries of 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas to consumers in France annually starting in October 2007.
Under the terms of the contracts, which will run until 2030, Gazprom will supply 12 billion cubic meters a year of gas to GDF.
Gazprom said that the contracts signed on Tuesday also envisage the delivery of additional exports of 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas to France annually via the prospective Baltic pipeline to Germany starting in 2010.