The above figure gives an overview of the gas prices in eurocents per m3 in the United States (month ahead prices), United Kingdom (month ahead prices) and continental European countries (based on oil related continental prices). The prices are based on realisations until May 2005 and futures from June 2005 until December 2006.

The figure shows that: Page 14 of 35 - Prices in the United Kingdom and the United States are more volatile than oil related continental prices; - The average Henry Hub price (United States) is 10% higher than the gas prices in Western Europe (including the United Kingdom), during the peaks the differences are often much higher; - The average oil related continental price is about equal to the average NBP (National Balancing Point) price, with the exception of the winter period 2005/2006.

Nowadays in Europe gas is being imported and distributed by companies that are increasingly competing with each other on different national markets. These national gas markets are being integrated into one European gas market. The increase in competition and the integration of the national markets is enlarged by newly founded gas companies and large end-consumers which are able to directly source their gas supply from producers, making use of TPA (Third Party Access).

The number of gas companies (besides specialised trading companies) per country are the lowest in the Baltic States (one transmission and one distribution company). The countries with the highest number of gas companies are Italy (2 companies for transmission and 583 for distribution) and Germany (15 companies for transmission and 705 for distribution).

The expected change in the number of gas companies in EU countries until 2010 is very diverse. In some countries a significant increase expected because of unbundling as well as the start of new companies in Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. In other countries a consolidation process is much more likely, for instance in Belgium, Italy, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Page 15 of 35 .

In most remaining countries, the number of active gas companies is expected not to change very much during the coming 5 years, like in France, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine and in the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, one of the largest gas markets in the UNECE region, the gas industry is privatised and unbundled on the level of ownership.The infrastructure is now owned by fully independent companies.

In the Netherlands, the high pressure and medium pressure gas network is in public hands, effectively resulting in ownership unbundling. In general, together with the several “unbundling options” there is a tendency for bigger companies to expand their position in the gas chain. Producer companies are moving into midstream and downstream activities. Midstream and downstream companies are getting involved in upstream activities.

Companies also tend to internationalise their scope of activities. Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine are developing towards a largely or even fully privately owned gas industry, although the upstream activities are expected to stay out of this.

During the last decade, significant privatisation of the oil and gas industry has taken place in Russia. This trend is expected to be maintained. At the same time formal limitations are present which could limit privatised companies in their activities by law or by regulation.