Report: Gazprom asks EU court for access to OPAL case

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (PRIME) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom has asked the European Court of Justice to grant access to the legal case regarding access to capacities of the OPAL natural gas pipeline as a third-party intervenient, Polish daily Nasz Dziennik reported on Friday.

“The Russians don’t want to watch the process from afar and asked the European court to allow Gazprom to participate in the investigation as a third-party intervenient. Formally, the role of the intervenient should be performed by Gazprom Export, which sells Russian gas to foreign countries,” the Polish daily reported.

Under the third energy package rules, Gazprom has access to half of the OPAL capacities, or to 12.8 billion cubic meters. The European Commission (EC) decided in October 2016 that Gazprom will retain its right to use half of the pipeline capacity and will be given admission to auctions for another 40%. On December 19, Polish energy holding PGNiG challenged the decision saying it is a threat to safety of gas supplies to the E.U.

In December 2016, the court suspended the commission’s decision and requested the E.C. and PGNiG provide additional data on the possible impact from Gazprom’s access to OPAL.

End