Western European firms participating in the Gazprom-led South Stream gas pipeline project could back the European Commission's efforts to force the Russian state-controlled export monopoly to open up the line to other shippers.
The commission wants Gazprom to treat all its EU buyers equally and allow foreign and independent gas producers to export gas outside of Gazprom's monopoly, an official said.
To achieve this goal, the commission is trying to apply third energy package regulations to the Bulgarian underwater section of the pipeline, according to a Gazprom official. If the commission succeeds, Gazprom will have to allow other firms to ship gas along South Stream.
EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger said in May last year that South Stream could be of European interest if not only Gazprom, but other firms could ship the gas along the line. The EU is interested in diversifying gas suppliers, not only export routes. South Stream addresses only the latter concern at present.
In exchange for providing third-party access to South Stream, the commission is prepared to exempt the South Stream onshore section along Europe from third-party access, which is required for the project to ensure a quicker investment return.
Foreign firms that are members of South Stream underwater consortium also hope to ship gas independently along the line. “This would make things much easier,” an official at Italian energy company Eni said. The underwater consortium unites Eni, Germany's Wintershall, French state-controlled utility EdF and Gazprom. Eni and Wintershall already produce gas in Russia but have to sell the gas to Gazprom at local prices.
Russia's antimonopoly service the FAS may prove an unlikely ally. The FAS recently
advised a rethinkof Russia's gas export law, arguing that breaking Gazprom's export monopoly could boost the country's tax revenues. The FAS also suggested measures to improve competition in the Russian gas market, including the introduction of spot gas trading, potentially using compressor stations in west Siberia as physical transfer points.