OREANDA-NEWS. Berlin hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Kurt Bock, Chairman of the BASF Board of Executive Directors.

The parties addressed further cooperation between the companies. The focus of the meeting fell on the BASF participation in the construction of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline.

Background

Germany is the biggest Russian gas consumer. In 2014 Gazprom sold 40.3 billion cubic meters in the German market.

Running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream is an export gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. Nord Stream AG, a joint project company, is the project operator (Gazprom holds 51 per cent, Wintershall Holding and E.ON – 15.5 per cent and ENGIE – 9 per cent).

On June 18, 2015 Gazprom, E.ON, Shell and OMV signed the Memorandum of Intent stipulating the construction of two strings of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline with an aggregate annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters, to be laid from the Russian coast to the German coast via the Baltic Sea.

BASF and Wintershall Holding partner Gazprom within the Nord Stream project.