Dutch dominant gas company Gasunie wants to take part in Gazprom's multibillion-dollar pipeline project that would ship Russian gas to northern Europe.

Cooperation on the project, known as the North European Gas Pipeline, was one of the aspects of a memorandum signed by Gasunie with gas giant Gazprom in Moscow, a spokesman for the Dutch company said.

"We agreed to strengthen the cooperation that we already have, including Gasunie's participation in the $6 billion North European Gas Pipeline," the spokesman said.

The pipeline will likely run from Russia through Finnish territorial waters under the Baltic Sea to Germany and the rest of continental Europe to lessen Gazprom's reliance on a Ukrainian gas route. Gazprom supplies Europe with one-quarter of its gas but 90 percent of it goes through Ukraine.

Gasunie's spokesman said other companies that had shown interest in the project included German Ruhrgas, Royal Dutch/Shell and BP.