Multination deals abound in Europe's gas networks

Brussels, Belgium-Belgian natural gas distributor Distrigaz has signed a contract with Germany's Ruhrgas to transport British gas to the German border via the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. Distrigaz, a subsidiary of the Belgian utility company Tractebel, had earlier announced a similar deal for gas bought in Britain with German Wingas.

In related developments, British Petroleum (BP) said that it had signed a $1 billion, 15-year contract (beginning in October 1998) to supply Ruhrgas, while the latter said it had extended and increased purchasing contracts with Norway and The Netherlands. These contracts include extending the Ekofisk contracts with Norway's Phillips group, led by Phillips Petroleum, up to the year 2028. They also include, in The Netherlands, prolonging the supply agreement with Gasunie by six years to at least 2022 while increasing purchased volume by 90 billion cubic meters. The volume of gas bought totals 185 billion cubic meters, worth about 30 billion marks ($49 billion) at today's prices. This brings Ruhrgas's contractually secured volume of natural gas to 1,450 billion cubic meters.

-Cris Whetton

Copyright Instrument Society of America Apr 1997
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