BERLIN, August 9. /TASS/. E.ON plans to remain in the Nord Stream gas pipeline operating consortium, Chief Financial Officer of the German energy company Marc Spieker told reporters.
"Options are being explored as to how the pipeline can be drained and protected," the CFO said, cited by the Rheinische Post newspaper.
In the long run, gas prices will be higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, the senior executive said. "I believe that in the near future, a return to the prices we had in 2017, 2018, 2019, before the pandemic" and the conflict in Ukraine is pretty much ruled out, Spieker said.
"Reliable and sustainable energy resources come at a cost, and so it will remain for the time being," the executive said. "The way the energy crisis unfolded showed that more and more quickly changing framework conditions should be addressed to even a greater degree in processes," he added.
E.ON said in its annual report released in March that the holding had completely written off its stake in Nord Stream AG, the operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.