It remains unclear how far talks between Gazprom and Centrica have progressed, with the AFX news agency reporting that the UK utility is in preliminary talks over a gas supply deal commencing in 2010. However the Financial Times newspaper suggests that a deal is not close, despite hints from senior Centrica executive Jake Ulrich at a recent conference to that effect.
We are having conversations with [Gazprom] from time to time about a potential gas supply deal but we have done no deal, the newspaper quoted a Centrica spokesperson as saying.
Gazprom has been linked a full-scale acquisition of Centrica in recent months, however the signals from both parties suggest that this is an unlikely eventuality.
