Gaz de France takes Gazprom to Canada
Gaz de France Suez, formed from the merger of Gaz de France (GdF) and the Franco-Belgian Suez, Europe's largest gas
concern, has signed a development strategy with Russia through 2013, Jean-Francois Cirelli, deputy general director
of the Franco-Belgian company announced.
After negotiations in Paris with Vlada Rusakova, Gazprom board member and head of the development, science and
ecology department, potential projects were divided into two groups: retail gas sales (Gazprom has received a quota
of 1.5 bn cm on the French market per year) and production, purchases and sales of gas to industrial users and
distribution companies.
In May, Gazprom Marketing & Trading USA signed a contract to supply 100-% of the liquefied natural gas for the
Rabaska regasification terminal in Quebec, Canada, from the Shtokman deposit beginning in 2014. That is Gazprom's
largest investment in North America so far.
Now it has become known that GdF Suez and the Canadian Gaz Metro and Enbrodge Embreg companies will offer Gazprom 27
% in the Rabaska project. The share of GdF in Rabaska will fall from 33.3 % to 23 %, and the Canadian companies'
shares will fall from 33.3 % to 25 %.
GdF is the world's top seller of liquefied natural gas. It owns shares in gas liquefaction plants in Egypt, Norway
and Latin America. It owns 15 liquefied natural gas tankers and is building five more.
The company's electric plants in France have a combined capacity of 6 GW, with plans to increase it of 10 GW in
France and 100 GW worldwide. GdF Suez's receipts in 2007 came to EUR 74.3 bn with profits of EUR 13 bn.
