Finland Must Boost Gas Competition by Joining European Network

Finland should strive to connect its natural gas network to Central Europe’s via Estonia to create competition in the industry, the Finnish economy ministry said.

Finland needs to cooperate with Estonia to get European Union funding to build a port terminal in the Gulf of Finland and for a gas pipeline through Estonia, the government said in a statement today.

A competitive gas market in Finland hasn’t been possible so far because the country is geographically reliant on Russia, whose OAO Gazprom has been the sole supplier of Finnish gas for almost four decades now.

Gasum Oy, operator of Finland’s natural-gas network, has said it’s considering building a terminal to import liquefied natural gas and cut dependence on Russian deliveries. A recent study by Helsinki-based PTT Research Institute also recommended the country invest in LNG to mitigate the impact of rising oil prices.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kasper Viita in Helsinki at kviita1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Wienberg at cwienberg@bloomberg.net