Commission requests details on OPAL gas pipe access changes

The European Commission has asked German regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) to provide more information on its planned changes on rules to access the OPAL gas pipeline.

Germany’s proposed changes would allow Russian incumbent Gazprom to be able to fully utilise the pipeline. This would come in the form of a third-party access exemption to using more than 50% of capacity on the pipeline. The players had been waiting for the commission to approve the deal.

“The commission has sent a request for additional information to the BNetzA, requesting updates on current market data that will allow the commission to access any developments in the relevant markets,” a spokeswoman for the commission said.

The commission will only take a decision on the matter if the answers are sufficiently complete, said the commission’s vice-president Maros Sefcovic earlier this week.

“If the commercial decision is taken that they still want to go ahead, then it should be done within the legal framework of the EU. We are looking at how the EU law can be respected in all its aspects,” Sefcovic said.

A spokesman for the German regulator confirmed that it is working on the questionnaire, but would not provide more detailed information on its content.

When the commission receives the regulator’s answers, it will examine the case within two months, the commission spokeswoman said.

The plans were cleared previously by BNetzA in October 2013, but a delay to the commission’s approval meant the request had to be cancelled.

According to EU competition laws, there needs to be a separation of ownership in place between physical pipelines and companies that flow gas through them. An exemption on OPAL would allow Gazprom to fully use the 36 billion cubic metre/year pipe.

OPAL connects the Nord Stream pipeline via Germany to the Czech Republic. miriam.siers@icis.com and marcello.kolax@icis.com