Existing gas pipelines from Russia already more than meet the European Union’s existing and future needs, the European Commission said Friday, a day after OAO Gazprom OGZPY -1.82 % and several Western energy companies said they would double the capacity of a pipeline to Germany. The tentative agreement with Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A -0.17 % PLC, Germany’s E. ON AG EONGY -2.24 % and Austria’s OMV AG OMVKY 2.10 % would allow Gazprom to ship an extra 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year through the Nord Stream pipeline via the Baltic Sea and forms another attempt by Moscow to avoid Ukraine as a transit route. The EU currently imports about one third of its gas from Russia, with almost half of that coming through Ukraine. Moscow has been working to reduce its dependence on Ukraine as a transit country , arguing that Kiev, with which […]