Brussels, 10/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - In the light of improvements made to gas supply contracts between German gas company Ruhrgas and Russian gas producer Gazprom to remove clauses that infringed EC Treaty rules on restrictive business practices (Article 81), the European Commission has closed its investigation. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes justified the decision saying: 'Competitive energy prices are crucial to the economic well being of Europe, and the competition rules have an important role to play in ensuring that all European customers benefit from a competitive market.' In a press release, the Commissioner added: 'Developments in Germany are crucial for fostering gas-to-gas competition and this case removes one barrier to Ruhrgas' entry into neighbouring countries.'
Ruhrgas and Gazprom agreed to delete the territorial sales restrictions from the contracts under investigation. Ruhrgas will no longer be contractually prevented from reselling outside Germany the LNG gas it buys from Gazprom and Gazprom will no longer be bound by a “most favoured customer” provision with Ruhrgas. The Commission says it is 'step towards creating a competitive and integrated European gas market' not only for 'competition between gas from different geographic sources but also competition between wholesalers who buy gas from the same geographical source.' Especially since Ruhrgas, part of E.ON Group of companies, is one of Gazprom's most important customers and is a huge gas market, well connected to a large number of other Member States. In all of these markets, gas-to-gas competition (i.e. not only) has yet to develop effectively. Germany is also an important transit country for both Norwegian and Russian gas to neighbouring countries. Ruhrgas and Gazprom have also deleted “most favoured customer” clauses from their agreements that obliged Gazprom to offer similar conditions to Ruhrgas as it would have offered to Ruhrgas's competitors in Germany.
The Commission has closed this investigation (launched in 2001) into Russian gas exports, but a spokesperson for Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the Commission would now be focussing its attention on gas import contracts from Algeria and more particularly the LNG contracts. The Commission has been investigating territorial restriction clauses (re-export prohibitions) and mechanisms having similar effects in supply contracts between Russian company Gazprom, Algerian company Sonatrach and a number of their respective European customers since 2001. These practices prevent wholesalers from reselling the gas into neighbouring territories or, in the case of liquefied natural gas (LNG), into terminals located in a different Member State. An energy industry investigation will probably be launched next week.