Britain to work with on Russia natural gas

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LONDON, March 15 (UPI) -- The British and Russian governments have an opportunity to explore further work in the natural gas sector, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Hague met this week in London with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, telling the Interfax news agency the British government viewed Russia as a vital energy partner for the European community.

I am aware that Russia is interested in exporting more gas to the U.K. and I hope that this is something our respective energy ministers might explore further together," he said.

British energy company BP said last year it was considering linking the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to British ports. The twin Nord Stream pipeline runs from Russia's eastern ports through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

The Nord Stream lines are each designed to transport about 1.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The first leg of the pipeline system went into service in 2011.

Hague stressed that any considerations for the pipeline were matters for the businesses involved to consider.

"Any contract for gas supply would be a commercial matter and would have to comply with relevant EU as well U.K. regulatory requirements," he said.