Gazprom Drills Deeper Into Europe

LONDON -- Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom is moving aggressively into retail natural-gas markets in Europe, with plans to sell gas and power directly to consumers, a top company official says.

The United Kingdom has emerged as a beachhead in its strategy.

Vitaly Vasiliev, head of Gazprom Marketing and Trading, the Russian giant's U.K. arm, predicts Gazprom will have 14% of Britain's commercial and industrial market in gas within three years, up from 1.5% today. "Gazprom wants to be an energy company, not just a supplier of gas," he says in an interview. "We want to participate in the whole ...