Gasunie

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie

Type	Naamloze Vennootschap; state-owned company
Industry	energy
Founded	1963
Headquarters	Groningen, The Netherlands
Area served	Netherlands, Germany
Key people	Paul van Gelder (CEO)
Services	natural gas transportation
Revenue	€1.506 million (2009)
Employees	1,448
Website	gasunie.nl/en/

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie (short form: Gasunie) is a Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company operating in the Netherlands and Germany. Gasunie owns the Netherlands gas transmission network with a total length of over 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi) and 3,100 kilometres (1,900 mi) long network in Germany.

History

Gasunie was founded in 1963 as a public-private partnership of Royal Dutch Shell (25%), ExxonMobil (25%) and the state of the Netherlands (50%) to sell and distribute natural gas from the then recently discovered gasfield in the province of Groningen.

In 2005 the company was divided into a gas trading company (now called GasTerra) and a gas transportation company which kept the name Gasunie. The latter owns and operates the Dutch gas transmission network as well as the former BEB pipeline network in Germany, and a major pipeline connecting The Netherlands with the United Kingdom called the BBL Pipeline. In 2005, the split of Gasunie took place through a buy out by the Dutch State of the shares held by Shell and ExxonMobil in the infrastructure part of Gasunie. Therefore Gasunie is now 100% state owned. The Dutch Ministry of Finance represents the Government's shareholder interest. Ownership of GasTerra is divided the same way as Gasunie before 2005.

Current activities

Gasunie is a shareholder of APX-ENDEX, an energy exchange of the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Gasunie owns 60% of the BBL Pipeline between the Netherlands and England. It also has 9% of shares in Nord Stream AG, the project company for the Nord Stream pipeline.^[1] Gasunie has agreed to have a 20% stake in NEL pipeline which will connect Nord Stream with the German gas system.^[2]

In 2007, Gasunie bought the BEB's transportation unit BEB Erdgas und Erdoel GmbH, a German natural gas pipeline network operator, from Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.^[3][4]

See also

• Gasunie Building

References

1. ^ "Gazprom and Gasunie sign agreement on cooperation within Nord Stream and BBL projects" (Press release). Gazprom. 2007-11-06. http://www.gazprom.com/eng/news/2007/11/25932.shtml. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
2. ^ "Gasunie takes NEL berth". Upstream Online (NHST Media Group). 2010-06-11. (subscription required). http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article217635.ece. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
3. ^ "Duo sell BEB to Gasunie". Upstream Online (NHST Media Group). 2007-11-23. (subscription required). http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article144818.ece. Retrieved 2007-11-24. 
4. ^ "Shell und Exxon stoßen deutsche Gasspeicher ab [Shell and Exxon repel German gas storage]" (in German). Financial Times Deutschland. 2010-06-08. http://www.wissen.de/wde/generator/wissen/services/nachrichten/ftd/UB/50124330.html. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 

External links

• Official website