Gazprom, France talk South Stream

PARIS, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A delegation from Russian energy giant Gazprom met with French officials to discuss cooperation in the energy sector, mainly the South Stream gas pipeline.

Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller met with Pierre Gadonneix, chief executive at Electricite de France, to discuss the possibility of EDF participating in the construction of the submerged section of the South Stream gas pipeline.

South Stream would bring natural gas from Central Asia and Russia to European markets through the Black Sea.

Both executives expressed the importance of South Steam in bringing diversity to the European energy market.

A January gas row between Gazprom and Ukraine that left Europe in the cold for weeks prompted a push to expand the regional energy infrastructure. Europe sees energy diversity in its Nabucco pipeline, while Russia backs its Nord Stream and South Stream options.

"South Stream, being a strategic project in terms of enhancing reliability and stability of natural gas supplies to Europe, will become the basis for this cooperation," Miller said of the meeting.

Gazprom signed a series of deals with regional partners for South Stream development. An addendum to a memorandum of understanding between Gazprom and Italy's ENI envisions as much as 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas for South Stream each year.