Denis Volkov, head of the gas and oil sector in the Federal Tariff Service, said domestic wholesale gas customers in Russia might have to pay $90 per 1,000 cubic meters by 2010. The current gas price is $40.
"By the end of this decade, the domestic price might reach $90 per 1,000 cu m of gas," he told the Russian Gas forum.
Volkov said the Industry and Energy Ministry was considering price differentiation depending on consumption.
"Consumers using gas unevenly must pay for idle capacity," he said.
Volkov also said new technologies would be worth introducing in the gas sector if the gas price reached at least $60 per 1,000 cu m.
"We want wholesale prices to reach European levels, but it is impossible at the moment because it would require the current price to be quadrupled," he said, adding the price would be high enough by 2010-2012.
Russian gas producers have said they need to know definite price parameters for the period so that they can make long-term investments in new deposits.
