Reuters: Gazprom endorses South Stream offshore gas link investments

Gazprom and its partners have taken a final investment decision on the offshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline, which will carry Russian gas to southern Europe, the South Stream consortium said on Thursday.

The decision late on Wednesday gives South Stream an edge over rival projects to ship gas to southern Europe, some designed to break Russia's dominance on the European gas market, and helps it to secure financing.

But at an estimated 16 billion euros for the total project, it is seen as costly, and its status is unclear under the European Union's Third Energy Package, which bars suppliers from owning transportation capacity.

Gazprom, which is expected to fund half of the total capital expenditures, according to its share in the project, did not disclose the financial outlays, which, according to some analysts may exceed 25 billion euros.  MORE