Pipeliners

4/07/09 - EurasiaNet - Russia’s energy behemoth Gazprom is eager to strike a deal with Italian executives that, if completed, could crush the export hopes for the rival Nabucco pipeline project. Gazprom executives expressed optimism late on April 6 that Italian energy companies were moving toward signing a deal that would see the Russia-backed South Stream pipeline extended to Italy. Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller appeared to make progress toward an agreement during talks in Moscow with Paolo Scaroni, the CEO of ENI, Italy’s top oil & gas concern, and Fulvio Conti, the head of Enel, Italy’s largest utility company. The executives "deliberated on the issue of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, paying special attention to the current activities within the pre-investment stage of the South Stream project and to the development of interaction through joint gas and power energy projects in Italy, Russia and third countries," according to a Gazprom statement. The South Stream gas pipeline plans to pump 31 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year directly from Russia across the Black Sea through Bulgaria and Greece. An Italian extension of the route would make Nabucco redundant, some experts believe. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi are due to hold a bilateral meeting later in April. Gazprom sold more than 22 bcm of gas to Italy in 2008.