Source: EU grants Gazprom access to 40% more of OPAL’s capacities

BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (PRIME) -- The European Commission has granted Russian gas giant Gazprom access to 40% more of capacities of the OPAL natural gas pipeline, a source close to the commission told reporters on Friday.

The agreement under discussion covered 80% of OPAL’s transit capacities of 32 billion cubic meters, or 25.6 billion cubic meters. Gazprom has access to 50% of the capacities, or to 12.8 billion cubic meters. The European Commission reserved 10% of the capacity, or 2.56 billion cubic meters, for possible demand of third parties, and allowed Gazprom to use the rest, the source said.

But the reserve may be gradually increased to 15% and then to 20% of the capacity of the commission sees an increase in demand from traders. But if the demand does not increase, then Gazprom will be allowed to use 100% of the distributable capacity of 25.6 billion cubic meters.

The decision will be in force for 22 years. The commission has a right to revise the deal if demand for the pipeline’s capacities from third parties increases above 20%, the source said.

The European Commission will send the decision to Germany’s energy watchdog Bundesnetzagentur, and the authority will have to implement it in two months, the source said.

OPAL, with a combined capacity of 36 billion cubic meters, is plugged into Russia’s Nord Stream undersea export pipeline and stretches along Germany’s eastern border. Under the E.U. third energy package, Gazprom can use only 50% of its capacities. But the only filler of the OPAL pipeline is Nord Stream, and Russia and Germany earlier urged the European Commission to exempt OPAL from the third package rules.

About 6 billion cubic meters of the pipe’s capacities were reserved for Germany’s E.ON.

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