German utility E.ON said on Tuesday it has signed contracts with Gazprom in Moscow for the delivery of about 400 billion cubic metres of gas up to 2036 to safeguard long-term European gas supplies.
E.ON said in a statement the annual deliveries of about 24 billion cubic metres are equivalent to one-third of the gas volume currently purchased by its gas unit, E.ON Ruhrgas.
The German utility said they signed an extension of 15 years on the existing contracts with Waidhaus as delivery point up to 2035, as well as new supply contracts for additional gas to come via the North European Gas Pipeline company (NEGP) to Greifswald on Germany's Baltic coast from 2010/2011 onwards.
The $4 billion pipeline, an important pipeline for European gas supply, is 51 percent owned by Gazprom, while Wintershall, a unit of German chemical maker BASF and E.ON each hold 24.5 percent through their gas units.