Centrica PLC
25 June 2002
25 June 2002
Centrica and Gasunie sign major long term supply agreement
Centrica plc has today announced that its subsidiary British Gas Trading Ltd and
Dutch company N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie have reached agreement on a major long
term UK natural gas import contract.
Gasunie has been contracted to deliver 80 billion cubic metres of gas to the UK
over a 10 year period. The agreement, which is linked to UK gas prices could
represent a value of £5.3 billion (Euros 8 billion) over the life of the
contract.
Gasunie said today the transportation route for the gas is still being studied,
but is likely to result in an additional pipeline being built linking the UK and
the Continent. Depending on the infrastructure, the gas is expected to come on
stream as early as 2005.
The contract follows Centrica's first long-term European supply contract
announced with Statoil earlier this month. The Gasunie agreement, to deliver 8
billion cubic metres of gas per year, equates to 18 per cent of Centrica's
current demand. Together, the Gasunie and Statoil contracts will meet about 30
per cent of Centrica demand, more than 10 per cent of current UK demand.
Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: 'Our agreement with Gasunie
marks another very significant step for Centrica following our earlier agreement
to bring gas to the UK from the Norwegian Continental Shelf. We are particularly
pleased as this secures stable supplies for our customers for the foreseeable
future that are linked to UK market prices. It is also good news for UK plc,
encouraging development of additional transportation infrastructure to meet the
nation's gas demand.'
Under the agreement, Gasunie will deliver a higher volume in the winter months
(approximately 5 billion cubic metres) and a lower volume in the summer months
(approximately 3 billion cubic metres). Together with current agreements, this
will boost Gasunie's exports to almost 50 billion cubic metres per year.
Gasunie has been investigating the potential for exports to the UK for some time
as demand for gas is expected to exceed current supplies over the next few
years. This one contract would make the UK one of Gasunie's biggest export
markets.
George Verberg, Chief Executive of Gasunie, said: 'We are very satisfied with
this long-term agreement. We are proud to have British Gas as a customer and to
play a positive role in the security of supply of the United Kingdom. For us it
is also a successful way of coping with our loss of market share due to the
effects of liberalisation in our country. Moreover, it underlines the strategic
position of Gasunie and The Netherlands in terms of a stable reserves position,
high level of flexibility and central location between the large Western
European gas markets.'
Enquiries:
Centrica Investor Relations: 01753 494900
Centrica Media Relations: 01753 494085
Gasunie: C.E. Glerum +31 50 521 22 81 / +31 6 55 37 60 92
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
Please note, this site uses cookies. Some of the cookies are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but if you do, parts of the site may not work. To find out more about the cookies used on Investegate and how you can manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy
To continue using Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor as well as agreeing to our Privacy and Cookie Policy & Terms.