E.On Ruhrgas AG chief executive officer Bernhard Reutersberg said Wednesday the company is seeking to secure natural gas from the Persian Gulf region and Africa to diversify its supply base and make up for dwindling European production of the fuel.

"We would like to open up to the global market of LNG [liquefied natural gas]," Reutersberg told Zawya Dow Jones in an interview Wednesday.

"Norway and Russia can increase their production rate but at the end of the day we would depend more and more on just two countries and that would not be our strategy," he said, speaking in Qatar's capital, Doha.

E.On Ruhrgas, the natural gas unit of German utility E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), is one of Europe 's largest gas suppliers. The firm is embarking on an aggressive diversification strategy of its supply portfolio as production of natural gas plummets in countries like Germany and the U.K.

The company presently sources about half its gas supplies from Russia and Norway . Much of its future supplies are expected to come from the import of LNG, gas cooled so it becomes liquid and can be transported over long distances on special vessels.

Reutersberg played down concerns over Europe 's heavy reliance on gas from Russia , which has the largest natural gas reserves in the world and from where E.On Ruhrgas sources some 26% of its gas supplies.

"The Russians are also dependent on us [ Europe ] because they need the demand and they cannot afford to give it up," he said.

Essen-based E.On Ruhrgas aims to obtain up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas from its own sources by tapping LNG markets in countries such as Qatar and Algeria , where it started drilling last year, Reutersberg said.

Qatar holds the third-largest gas reserves in the world and is the top global LNG exporter with total capacity to hit more than 77 million tons a year by the end of 2010. Algeria has the second-largest gas reserves in Africa after Nigeria .

Earlier Wednesday, Reutersberg said his company started talks six months ago with Qatar's state-controlled LNG producing firms Qatargas Operating Co. Ltd. and Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd., better known as RasGas, to supply the super cooled fuel to Europe.

"Qatari companies are interested in a stronger footprint in Europe --there are opportunities on both sides," he said.

As well as Algeria , Reutersberg said E.On Ruhrgas was exploring a potential project in Equatorial Guinea in sub-Saharan West Africa .

"It's a long way to go before entering into a final investment decision there," he added.

E.On last had talks with Iran over gas supplies in 2009, Reutersberg said, adding that it remained an attractive market but political instability was preventing further negotiations. Iran holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves.

Reutersberg said his company's decision--announced earlier this month--to take a 15% stake in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, or TAP, project to bring gas from the Caspian to Europe would not dent E.On's interest in the Persian Gulf region.

"We are interested to acquire some volumes in the Caspian and we will bring this gas specifically to Italy . Therefore we need access to different market places," he added.

Διαβάστε ακόμα