Italian company Eni and Russia’s Gazprom have signed a memorandum allowing the French EDF to join as a third shareholder in the South Stream gas transit pipeline.
According to the document, EDF “will acquire a share in the Italian-Russian consortium established for creating infrastructure through the Black Sea for transporting natural gas to Europe,” Eni and Gazprom announced in a joint communique.
As early as April 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the French company EDF will also become a partner in the South Stream project. Back then he said that EDF asked for a 20% share, which, if granted, will probably leave Gazprom and Eni with 40% each.
The South Stream gas transit pipeline is supposed to be ready by 2015. Its construction is expected to cost between EUR 19 B and EUR 24 B. It will be transporting 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, or 35% of Russia’s total annual natural gas export to Europe.
The South Stream pipe will start near Novorosiysk on the Russian Black Sea coast, and will go to Bulgaria’s Varna; the underwater section will be long 900 km.
