Nord Stream to counter Japan's gas takeup

The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline could help address the energy deficit that resulted from Japan's nuclear disaster, executives said. Japan was forced to take on more shipments of natural gas when a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Gerard Mestrallet, the chief executive officer at French energy company GDF Suez, welcomed his Gazprom counterpart Alexei Miller to Paris to discuss bilateral energy issues. Both companies are major shareholders in the consortium overseeing the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline. Construction on the Nord Stream pipeline started in April 2010 and it will pass through economic zones in Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The Nord Stream consortium said last month it was nearly finished laying the twin natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany. "Parties discussed the additional gas volumes that Europe may need in the future, following the decisions made post-Fukushima events," GDF Suez said in a statement on the meetings.