Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Gazprom offers to buy all Libya’s gas

I was told five years ago, by a person much experienced of Russia, that Gazprom would have the largest market capitalization of any company in the world.
From the Financial Times:

Gazprom, Russia’s state-­controlled gas company, said on Wednesday it was in talks to buy all of Libya’s oil and gas exports, in its latest effort to strengthen its influence over world energy markets.

Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, made the offer in talks with Muammer Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, in Tripoli.

In a statement after the meeting, Gazprom said: “Libya positively evaluated Gazprom’s proposition to buy all future volumes of gas, oil and [liquefied natural gas] designed for export at a market price.”

he offer fits Gazprom’s strategy of seeking to secure sources of supply outside its Russian base and, in particular, to tie up future gas imports into western Europe.

It will raise concerns in the European Union that Gazprom is seeking to increase its dominance of Europe’s gas market, already set to grow as production in countries such as the UK and the Netherlands falls....MORE