Gazprom’s Headquarters today has hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, Deputy Prime Minister and Economic AffairsMinister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The meeting deliberated on Europe’s gas market, energy policy and supply security development.

The parties also addressed potential cooperation between Gazprom and NV Nederlandse Gasunie in gas deliveries to the Netherlands and gas transmission to the Great Britain and other European countries.

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst confirmed the readiness of Dutch energy companies to develop the gas transmission network in the Netherlands within the North-European gas pipeline project.

Reference:

Over 2004, Gazprom supplied the Netherlands with 2.7 bcm of gas.

NV Nederlandse Gasunie was formed back in 1963 as a natural gas supply and transmission company. In 2000, Gazprom and Gasunie clinched a Contract on Russian gas supplies to the Netherlands, stipulating a total of some 80 bcm of gas to be piped within 20 years.

The Contract laid foundations for cooperation between the companies in different sectors, from fulfilling contractual commitments and searching for ways of joint operations on the European gas market up to experience sharing in information technologies, planning & simulation methods and personnel management. Moreover, in 1999, Gazprom and Gasunie sealed a Protocol on strategic cooperation and still keep on intensively interacting, meeting new challenges and exchanging experience.

In 2001, Gazprom and Gasunie took up the initiative to implement a joint project on knowledge and work experience sharing in the energy sector. The initiative was backed by the Russian and Dutch Governments. The Project was called the Gas University. Later on, the Groningen University joined the Project and together with Gasunie set up the Energy Delta Institute.

On 29 June 2004, Gazprom and Gasunie entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation, stipulating joint activities targeted at enhancing the flexibility of natural gas deliveries to Europe, which would allow to promptly react to seasonal and daily volatility of end consumers’ gas demand. In addition, the parties agreed to interact in the following matters: Europe’s gas market globalization, energy policy, gas supply security and impact of the liberalization on the energy market, in terms of gas suppliers. Gazprom and Gasunie will also share experience in the gas transmission network operation & maintenance, dispatch control and European gas transmission network simulation.

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