Several clients request price adjustments from Gazprom in 2013
MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Gazprom has received notifications from several clients containing proposals to revise the price for gas supply contracts, Deputy General Director of Gazprom Export Sergei Chelpanov said during a conference call.
This year, buyers have the legal opportunity to request that gas prices be adjusted in some cases.
"And in January we received several notifications with proposals for negotiations, particularly from Wingas, Econgas and Gaz De France," Chelpanov said. He said "this is normal behavior for buyers today in unstable market conditions."
"Right now it's fairly difficult to say what this might lead to," Chelpanov said, adding that this will depend on Gazprom's negotiating position. He recalled that Gazprom is continuing negotiations with Germany's RWE in parallel with its arbitration case.
There is no standard formula in the process of reconsidering contracts, and prices are largely linked to the prices of competing oil products, Chelpanov said, adding that in 2012 Gazprom adapted its contracts to market conditions, including a link to spot prices in some contracts. However, "far from the whole market is seeking to set prices based on spot," he said. "There are the markets of Northwest Europe, there are the markets of Southern and Central Europe, and buyers in them have fairly substantial differences in their approach to pricing," he said.
With the start of the financial crisis, European buyers began to seek revisions in the price terms for gas supplies. Gazprom has reconsidered conditions for its main buyers: Eni, PremiumGas, Edison, Sinergie Italiane, GDF Suez, WIEH, Wingas, SPP, Econgas, E.ON Ruhrgas, PGNiG, among others.
In the first half of last year, Gazprom reflected the effect of retroactive gas price adjustments for deliveries made in 2010 and 2011, which were agreed upon in 2012, at 133.2 billion rubles.
