Gazprom is in preliminary talks with Nigeria about taking part in a multi-billion dollar project to pipe Nigerian gas to Europe across the Sahara, the Russian gas giant's boss Alexei Miller said today.

Miller said Gazprom's expertise in big projects potentially made the ambitious venture a natural fit, a Reuters report said.

"We have an interest in this project. Gazprom, by its technical capability, is the number one company in the world. Such big projects naturally interest us," he said.

"We are holding preliminary consultations with our Nigerian partners."

The Saharan project, with capital costs estimated at $10 billion for the pipeline and $3 billion for the gathering centres, would send up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe via a 4128 kilometre pipeline crossing Nigeria, Niger and Algeria. Start-up is pencilled in for 2015.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has welcomed the venture as being in the interests of European energy security and the environment and of Africa's development.

Piebalgs has also said the EU might help finance it.

The project is looking for support from European governments and gas consumers, which are concerned about falling domestic supplies and increasing reliance on gas piped in from Russia.

The gas would cross the Mediterranean via a growing network of pipelines running from Algeria to Europe.