Volkswagen and Gazprom Sign Vehicle Gas Deal

Russia's Gazprom has entered a sponsorship agreement with Germany's Volkswagen Motorsport which will promote and publicise vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG).

Under the deal announced in Hannover, Germany, by Gazprom chairman Viktor Zubkov, subsidiary Gazprom Germania GmbH will become the sole supplier of CNG vehicle fuel for Volkswagen's Scirocco R-Cup racing series, starting next month.

Agency UPI reported that Volkswagen has staged the CNG-fuelled nine-race series since 2010, a year after a VW Scirocco using natural gas turned in an impressive showing at the Nurburg, Germany, 24-hour endurance race, where it finished 17th overall and at the top of several classes.

That result served as major boost for CNG-fueled cars, which are widely praised removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere but which are more expensive to buy and difficult to refuel because filling station selling natural gas are few and far between in Germany.