BERLIN, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) can honor its export contracts without supplies of Central Asian natural gas, the energy giant's deputy chairman said Friday.
"We use natural gas from Central Asia to optimize supplies to neighboring countries considering the transportation map," Alexander Medvedev told an international energy conference.
Concerns have been raised in the European Union, a major Gazprom client, that the energy giant would be unable to honor its obligations without Central Asian gas, as yields from its aging major field are declining.
Gazprom plans to buy 9 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Uzbekistan, which produces 60 billion cu m a year, for $60 per 1,000 cu m and is believed to be seeking more than three times the amount from Turkmenistan in 2006.
Medvedev said Gazprom accounted for 26.1% of the 563.8 billion cubic meters of gas consumed by Europe, and that the share could rise to 32% by 2015 if current export contracts were extended.
He added that Gazprom was in talks with a number of countries on extending the contracts and if that happened by 2015, Gazprom would provide 222 billion cu m to Europe without new contracts.
