Interfax quoted the regulator said the European Commission has given the go-ahead for Gazprom group company Gazprom Schweiz to buy 50% of the Italian dealer Promgas SpA from Italian energy company Eni.

Promgas is owned by Gazprom Export and Eni on equal terms. Italian energy company Edison is its sole client. Promgas buys gas from Gazprom at the Austrian gas hub in Baumgarten under a long term contract valid until 2022 and supplies 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Gazprom is unfolding a campaign to streamline gas, possibly by eliminating intermediaries and/or increasing its stake in the intermediaries.

Edison this year agreed review the terms of the contract with Promgas, after bringing court action. Edison was paying USD 400 per thousand cubic meters last year, far more than other intermediaries were charging.

Promgas last year supplied 1.71 billion cubic meters of the 13.05 billion cubic meters of Russian gas that Italy imported.

(Sourced from Interfax)