Russ Oil-Gas

24 May 2007 - Upstream OnLine - Austria's OMV has signed a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom which will see the Russian gas giant take a stake in OMV's gas hub and start work on joint storage projects. OMV's central European gas hub, in Baumgarten at the border to Slovakia and among Europe's top three hubs, is set to handle 1.3 billion cubic metres per month in 2007, the group said. "Our intention is jointly to develop this gas hub into the most important one in Europe," OMV quoted Gazprom boss Alexei Miller as saying in a statement, published late last night. It did not give any details on the size of the stake earmarked for Gazprom. OMV also said it planned to co-operate with Gazprom on gas storage facilities located next to its Baumgarten hub as well as in neighbouring countries. The memorandum was signed during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Austria.