Nord Stream to supply UK by 2012
The United Kingdom contracted gas purchases from the Russian-backed Nord Stream pipeline to meet more than 4 % of its
demand by 2012, officials said.
Russia aims to diversify its energy transport options through the Nord Stream pipeline through the Baltic Sea and the
South Stream pipeline to southern Europe. Europe, for its part, had aimed to break a Russian grip on the regional gas
market with the Nabucco gas pipeline and its possible Central Asian and Middle Eastern suppliers.
Matthias Warning, the chief executive of the Nord Stream consortium, said that as North Sea reserves run dry, the
region will need to look to imports to satisfy its demands.
"The United Kingdom is switching from a gas exporter to an importer," he said.
Warning said Nord Stream will bring more than 140 bn cf of natural gas per year to British customers by as early as
2012.
The $ 11.1 bn (EUR 77.7 bn) Nord Stream pipeline has an estimated capacity of about 1.9 tcf per year. Construction on
the dual pipeline to Germany through the Baltic Sea is slated for April.
