BRUSSELS — Gazprom says the unrest in Northern Africa will likely boost European demand for supplies via the planned South Stream pipeline, company chief executive Alexei Miller told journalists Thursday on the sidelines of EU-Russia talks in Brussels.
The pipeline, to open in 2015, aims to ship up to 63 billion cubic meters of Russian gas a year under the Black Sea to Southern and Western Europe. Industry watchers have criticized the project as uneconomic and urged Gazprom to abandon it in favor of increased supplies through Ukraine.
Uprisings across Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are pushing up oil and gas prices, which benefits Russia, a major oil and gas exporter.
(AP)
