ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 24 (UPI) -- The British energy sector is eager to secure more supplies of natural gas from Russian energy company Gazprom, the British energy minister said.
British Energy Minister Michael Fallon met in St. Petersburg with Gazprom chief Alexei Miller to discuss expanding ties in the energy sector.
"We are interested in boosting Russian natural gas supplies to the U.K. market and we hope for deeper cooperation in gas storage, power generation and infrastructure projects," Fallon said in a statement published last weekend.
Fallon told a London energy conference last week natural gas imports should increase from 49 percent in 2012 to 53 percent in 2020.
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.
