The heads of France's GDF Suez and Russia's Gazprom discussed Friday possible "cooperation" in the power sector, as well as covering current issues on the Nord Stream gas pipeline project, the French company said late Friday.
GDF Suez CEO Gerard Mestrallet met with Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller in Paris and also discussed future gas supplies from Russia to Europe, in the light of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March.
GDF Suez, France's dominant gas supplier, holds long-term contracts with Gazprom for gas flows from Russia out to 2030. GDF Suez has said it is trying to renegotiate these long-term contracts as it tries to untangle its procurement costs from oil indexed contracts, which have recently proved more expensive than prices in the wholesale gas market.
The companies "discussed the additional gas volumes that Europe may need in the future, following the decisions made post-Fukushima events," GDF Suez said.
Several European countries, including Germany and Italy, have turned their back on nuclear power since the Japanese nuclear disaster, raising the demand for gas-fired power generation.
The companies also agreed that the Nord Stream pipeline will "be a guarantee of meeting the growing energy demand of the French and European consumers in the long term," GDF Suez said.
The French company is to receive around 2.5 billion cu m/year of gas through the pipeline.
