Russ Oil-Gas

January 20, 2006 The Moscow Times - BERLIN - Gazprom is looking to sell directly to German end-users of gas, its deputy chief executive officer said on Thursday, as the gas monopoly plans to expand its market presence. "We are looking at different options with respect of making cargo movements to the final customers quicker," Alexander Medvedev said. "That's why we are considering what's available in the market and what kind of alliances we could create." Medvedev said the company's first priority was to look for a German partner to form a 50-50 joint venture. Gazprom currently has Wingas, a joint venture with BASF's Wintershall to sell natural gas in Germany and Europe. Wingas has a 15 percent share of Germany's wholesale gas market. On Wednesday, Medvedev said Gazprom aimed to boost its share of Britain's wholesale gas market to a fifth within 10 years, and would consider acquisitions as big as Scottish Power.