Tuesday, May 24, 2011
MADRID (Dow Jones)--Gas Natural SDG SA (GAS.MC) hasn't yet reached a deal to end a pricing dispute with natural gas supplier Sonatrach, and talks between the two parties are continuing, a Gas Natural spokesman said Tuesday.
The spokesman's comments come after Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias earlier Tuesday said the two companies had reached a deal under which Sonatrach, an Algerian state-owned company, would enter Gas Natural's capital.
Sonatrach would get no more than a 10% stake in Gas Natural, through a capital increase to be carried out by the Spanish company, as part of a EUR1.5 billion payment Gas Natural owes Sonatrach, the paper added.
The case focuses on the price of Algerian gas. In August last year, an international arbitration court ruled that Sonatrach should be allowed to raise the price of gas retroactively from 2007, a ruling Gas Natural is contesting.
-By David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires; +34 91 395 8127; david.roman@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
24-05-11 0733GMT
