Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 02 2021

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

German state eyes way to circumvent

US sanctions on Nord Stream 2

GERMANY GERMANY’S northern state of Mecklen- surveying, trenching and rock placement.
burg-Vorpommern aims to establish a founda- The legislation was part of a broader defence
The fund would buy tion to support the completion of Russia’s Nord bill that cleared US Congress but was vetoed by
needed materials for Stream 2 gas pipeline, amid the looming threat of US President Donald Trump. The House of Rep-
pipeline construction, further US sanctions against the project. resentatives then voted to override that veto and
thereby circumventing The state’s parliament gave the green light the Senate followed suit on January 1, meaning
US sanctions. on January 7 to the initiative, which would set the sanctions could come into law in the next few
up a foundation that could buy needed materi- weeks.
als for pipeline construction, thereby circum- The US maintains that Nord Stream 2 will
venting Washington’s sanctions. Lawmakers give Russia too much leverage over Europe,
approved €200,000 ($245,000) of public money and has promoted US LNG as a better alter-
for the fund, while the Gazprom-owned Nord native. But the pipeline enjoys strong support
Stream 2 operating company has pledged a fur- from the current German government, led by
ther €20mn. The foundation will be headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conserv-
ex-state premier Erwin Sellering, former Euro- ative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
pean Parliament member Werner Kuhn and an And that support has only solidified because
entrepreneur called Katja Enderlein. of US actions. Yet the pipeline is still divisive in
“We believe that it is right to build the pipe- Germany, with opposition politicians warning
line,” State Premier Manuela Schwesig told it will lock the country into fossil fuel depend-
reporters. ence for longer.
Germany stands to make significant eco- Creating a state-backed foundation will make
nomic gains from Nord Stream 2’s completion, it harder for the US to thwart Nord Stream 2 by
in terms of lower gas prices, transit revenues and taking steps such as freezing funds, as the foun-
increased energy security. At peak capacity the dation will have no commercial activities beyond
pipeline will flow up to 55bn cubic metres per the pipeline.
year of Siberian gas to northern Germany. For its part, Russia says it is confident that
Construction ground to a halt in December additional US sanctions will be too little too
2019 after Swiss contractor Allseas was forced to late. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexan-
withdraw when the US slapped sanctions on the der Novak told state Russian television in late
project, leaving just 6% of its offshore section left December that the pipeline would be finished
to complete. Work resumed in German waters because it is in Europe’s commercial interests.
last month and is due to re-commence in Danish “It’s a commercial project, which is, in the first
waters on January 15, with Russia using its own place, in the interests of our foreign partners,” he
pipelaying vessels. said.
Washington’s current sanctions only target Still, companies are taking the sanctions
those companies providing pipelaying vessels threat seriously. Norway-based quality assur-
for Nord Stream 2. But a proposed second round ance firm DNV GL said in early January it would
will extend penalties to those providing techni- no longer provide pipeline integrity verification
cal certification and insurance for the work, as services for Nord Stream 2 because of Washing-
well as additional pipelaying activities such as ton’s punitive measures. ™

Week 02 13•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13