Groningen, 31 August 2006
Trading company Gasunie Trade & Supply to be renamed GasTerra with effect from 1 September 2006
On 1 July 2005, the former trade and transport company N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie was demerged to create two autonomous companies. The move was carried out in response to EU Directives and the liberalisation of the European gas market.
The company’s transport and infrastructure activities were continued under the name N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, or Gasunie for short.
The trading arm for gas purchases and sales was continued under the name Gasunie Trade & Supply. Not surprisingly, this name was often also abbreviated to Gasunie, thus creating confusion.
This lack of clarity is now being removed following a decision to rename the trading company GasTerra B.V. The company’s activities will be unaffected by the change.
Both companies are based in Groningen but are wholly independent of each other. They have a purely commercial relationship, which means that GasTerra must apply to Gasunie for gas transport services and related activities in the Netherlands on the same basis as any other company.
On 1 September, G.J. Lankhorst will take up the post of Chief Executive Officer of GasTerra, succeeding the outgoing CEO H.G. Dijkgraaf.
The new company name was announced by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, J.G. Wijn, at a reception held at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden to mark the change of directorship.
A summary profile of both companies is given below.
Contact details:
ben.warner@gasterra.nl
+31-50-3648810 / +31-6-533 899 43
Company profile: GasTerra B.V.
GasTerra is an international company trading in natural gas. It plays an active role on the European energy market and accounts for a major share of the Dutch gas market. GasTerra also offers services that are related to trade in gas.
GasTerra has a statutory responsibility to implement the Netherlands’ small fields policy, which promotes the extraction of Dutch gas from smaller fields. The company is committed to maintaining strong links with market players in the interests of customer service, and to concluding sales contracts that reflect the value of natural gas.
GasTerra recorded a turnover of EUR 14.5 billion and sold a total of 80.4 billion m3 of natural gas in 2005.
Company profile: N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie
N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie provides infrastructure for the transport of natural gas. It owns one of Europe’s largest high pressure networks, consisting of approximately 12,000 kilometres of pipeline, dozens of installations and 1,100 custody transfer stations. Gasunie transported over 95 billion cubic metres of gas in 2005.
Through its subsidiary, Gas Transport Services B.V., Gasunie is responsible for the management and development of the Dutch gas transport network. The company also provides other gas infrastructure services, including gas storage, in a safe, efficient, profitable and sustainable way. The reliability and strategic location of the Gasunie transport network in relation to expanding international gas flows puts the Netherlands in an excellent position to become the ‘gas hub’ of north-western Europe.
