Baltic States – CIS, Energy, EU – Baltic States, EU – CIS, Gas, Latvia

Guenther Oettinger.

"If we say we go together and make a contract for the European gas market, we would be in a better position for every member state, for every company and for every user and consumer in our union," Oettinger, who holds the energy portfolio in the 27-nation EU's executive commission, told reporters during a visit to Latvia.

Natural gas prices in Latvia are 30% higher than in Germany, Oettinger earlier told a meeting of center-right European lawmakers in Riga, adding that bilateral deals are a reason for the discrepancy, informs AFP/LETA.

Latvia relies entirely on Russia for its gas, a leftover from its decades as a Soviet republic. Latvia has been negotiating prices for gas with Russian energy giant Gazprom and Latvijas Gaze, part-owned by Gazprom, signed a long-term gas distribution contract last February, running until 2030.

According to EU data, Latvians pay 24% more for their gas than their southern neighbors the Lithuanians, and 32% more than the Estonians to the north, even though the ex-Soviet Baltic trio are connected to the same grid.

"The European Union – our member states – have a good partnership with Russia but partnership means partnership and not dependency," Oettering said. Gas has become a headline issue in Latvia as the center-right coalition government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis braces for an October 2 general election.

In the pre-election fray, parliament recently voted to delay bringing in an excise tax on gas until the end of June 2011.