Page 9 - FSUOGM Week 26
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FSUOGM
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM
Gazprom withdraws Danish application for Nord Stream 2
Original Nord Stream 2 route, as per Gazprom’s now cancelled route application with Danish authorities. Source: Gazprom website.
RUSSIA
RUSSIA’S Gazprom has withdrawn its 2017 application to lay the Nord Stream 2 gas pipe- line through Denmark’s territorial waters, cit- ing Copenhagen’s failure to take a decision on permitting.
Gazprom’s wholly owned subsidiary Nord Stream 2 announced the move in a statement on June 28, saying it had given written notice to the Danish Energy Agency. Nord Stream 2 Matthias Warnig said the step was necessary because in more than two years, Copenhagen had “not given any indication of coming to a decision.”
“But both Nord Stream 2 and our investors need legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations, which means a transparent and predictable decision-making process, especially against the backdrop of the advanced construc- tion progress in the waters of the four other countries through which the pipeline stretches,” he said in a statement.
Gazprom collected permits from all other countries along Nord Stream 2’s route last year. It has accused Denmark of politicising the pro- ject by delaying its approval and introducing a law last year that would allow Danish authorities to block its construction on security and foreign policy grounds.
In its 2017 application, Gazprom proposed the same route for Nord Stream 2 as the exist- ing Nord Stream pipeline, completed in 2012. It has two other applications pending that would run the project through Denmark’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – either north or south of the island of Bornholm. Both of these routes are longer and would drive up the cost of the project,
currently estimated at €9.5bn ($10.8bn).
At a press conference on June 28, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said talks with Danish regu- lators were “constructive,” adding that more than
60% of the pipeline had been completed.
“ e point of no return for this project has long been passed. The project will be imple- mented,” he told reporters. “ ere is no legal
possibility of stopping the Nord Stream 2.” Nord Stream 2, tentatively scheduled for launch by the end of this year, will deliver up to 55bn cubic metres of gas annually to Germany and Russia’s other customers in central and west- ern Europe. e project has proved controver- sial, with eastern EU member states warning it will undermine bloc energy security. Brussels has adopted a law that could impose EU energy market legislation on Nord Stream 2, requiring Gazprom to set up an independent company to manage the pipeline and share its capacity with other suppliers. Meanwhile, US lawmakers are scrambling to impose sanctions to bring the pro-
ject to a halt.
On June 27, the House of Representatives’
Foreign A airs Committee cleared the Protect- ing European Energy Security Act, which would in ict penalties on companies that sell, lease and provide pipe-laying vessels for both Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream – a 31.5bn cubic metre pipe- line Russia is constructing under the Black Sea to Turkey.
“By targeting the pipe-laying ships we would stop the work in its tracks, but not allow for unin- tended consequences of our allies in Europe,” Republican lawmaker Adam Kinzinger said during a committee hearing.
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