RusEnergy

21 May 2007 - Upstream OnLine - Russian gas giant Gazprom and German utility E.ON have declined to comment on media reports the Russian company wants to charge E.ON more for a stake in the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field. A spokesman for Gazprom said the two companies had signed a preliminary contract giving E.ON a stake in Yuzhno-Russkoye, but the details still have to be finalised. E.ON said in an emailed statement both sides want to reach an agreement but did not elaborate. In a report published this morning, German newspaper Die Welt cited unnamed people within E.ON and Gazprom as saying that Gazprom wants to increase the price for the 25% stake, changing the company's preliminary agreement from last year. The Russian company wants stakes in E.ON power stations, unnamed people within E.ON said, according to the paper. Gazprom argues that higher natural gas prices have increased the value of the field, Die Welt reported. Last year, E.ON agreed to pay Gazprom €1.2 billion ($1.62 billion) and give Gazprom just under 50% of its Hungarian gas trading and storage units, as part of its strategy to produce as much as 20% of the gas it needs from its own sources. E.ON, which has an agreement to acquire a stake of almost 35% in the field, had agreed to all major points of the deal, a spokesman said today.