Spain: Gazprom monopolizing EU energy

Spain's Centro Nacional de Inteligencia has accused the Russian gas giant Gazprom of attempting to monopolize the energy supply to Europe. The Spanish agency CNI [National Intelligence Center] charges that Gazprom, which is a state-run company, is going ahead with a plan to "take control of energy sources beyond Russia's borders" in cooperation with other gas producers such as Iran, Algeria, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. According to the newspaper Publico, the agency concluded that recent energy deals between the company and some Latin American energy-rich states are in line with the plan. The CNI claims Russia, which meets the energy needs of many European countries, seeks to gain control of a pipeline project linking Nigeria to Europe. The Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project is planned to supply Europe with natural gas through Niger and Algeria. Gazprom recently announced its willingness to participate in the 4,400-kilometre Trans-Sahara gas pipeline project (TSGP). "We have the opportunity here to offer some solutions that we have come across. We have experience of running similar long, large-scale projects," said Managing Director of Gazprom in Nigeria Vladimir Ilyanin. Gazprom unveiled a plan to invest about $2.5 billion in infrastructure for the development and production of Nigerian gas.