Europe getting enough gas, Gazprom says

MOSCOW, June 27 (UPI) -- European consumers serviced by Gazprom are getting natural gas at levels they'd normally get during the winter, the company's chief executive said Friday.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said the volume of gas to Europe is more than sufficient to meet demands. Gazprom, he said, is helping address the shortage of natural gas extraction from European countries.

"We have been able take advantage of these circumstances, as we have enough resources and transportation capacity," he said Friday.

Gazprom meets about a quarter of the gas needs of the European market. Most of that runs through a Soviet-era gas transmission network in Ukraine.

The company said this week gas supplies were moving through Ukraine according to its contractual obligations. Earlier this month, Gazprom said it wouldn't send gas to Ukraine unless it was paid in advance.

Gazprom says Ukraine is billions of dollars in debt. Gas debt rows in 2006 and 2009 caused natural gas supply disruptions in Europe.

Gazprom is trying to add a layer of diversity to its transit options with its South Stream gas pipeline though southern Europe. European leaders have balked at the project and are moving on their own strategies to get gas from alternate suppliers in the Caspian region.