BERLIN, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Germany seems to have emerged as the main strategic partner in Russia's search for Western European markets for its natural gas.
In an analysis, the International Herald Tribune says Germany's emergence as a transit country comes as Europe and the United States compete for reliable energy sources.
In the latest indication of Europe's growing reliance on Russia, U.S. firms were edged out by Russia for developing a major gas field. The report says Russia also reneged on previous plans to send liquefied natural gas from that field to the United States.
In a recent speech in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin, while discussing the North European Gas Pipeline the two countries are building under the Baltic Sea, said, "This would mean that Germany is not only a consumer of natural gas but would make it a big European distributor of Russian gas."
"It would transform the energy face of Germany and strengthen its role in European energy matters," he said in the Herald Tribune report.
In the first six months of this year, German-Russian trade has equaled last year's total of $31.4 billion, the report said.
