January 6, 2008

Gazprom Makes Pitch to Develop Nigeria's Gas Reserves

By Bill Murray, Bloomberg

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom wants access to Nigeria's natural-gas reserves in return for more investment in energy infrastructure, the Financial Times reported, citing a unidentified senior Nigerian oil industry official.

Gazprom officials visited Nigeria's capital, Abuja, in mid- December with a range of proposals to revamp the nation's underperforming gas sector, the London-based newspaper said.

In return, Gazprom would help develop some of the world's largest natural-gas deposits and reinforce a global trend of state-backed energy companies challenging established U.S. and European rivals, the newspaper said.

Gazprom is Russia's biggest natural-gas producer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Murray in London at wmurray1@bloomberg.net