Russia's state-run natural gas company, Gazprom, says it has begun talks on purchasing gas from Azerbaijan.
Gazprom
Chief Executive Alexei Miller signed a memorandum of understanding in
Moscow Friday with the president of the Azeri State Oil Company, Rovnag
Abdullayev, to begin talks on importing gas from 2010.
Azeri gas
would flow to Russia via a 200-kilometer pipeline running along the
Caspian coast from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to the Russian town of
Novo-Filya.
The move could have negative implications for the
EU-backed Nabucco pipeline project, designed to bring Caspian Sea gas
to Europe while bypassing Russia.
Last week, the European Union
pledged more than $265 million for the project as part of a larger
energy plan but it lacks both viable sources of gas and agreement
between consortium members.
