Page 4 - FSUOGM Week 28 2021

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Nord Stream 2 set for August

completion: CEO

Risks remain, but the Nord Stream 2 company expects the pipeline to flow its

first gas later this year

EUROPE NORD Stream 2 is on track for completion in to finish the job.
August, the project’s operating company told the Nord Stream 2 is now 98% complete, War-
WHAT: German press on July 11. nig said, with one of its 27.5 bcm per year strings
Nord Stream 2 is due to In an interview with Germany’s Handelsblatt already finished. Work has also begun on test-
be completed in August, newspaper, Nord Stream 2 CEO Matthias War- ing and certifying the completed string, he said,
its CEO has said. nig said construction would finish by the end of noting that this process would take two to three
next month and that the pipeline should be up months to complete for both strings. Given that
WHY: and running this year. He added that he expected the first string was finished in June, this might
The pipeline is now 98% Ukraine to remain a transit route for Russian gas suggest it could be flowing gas by September
complete supplies bound for Europe. There were concerns over how Nord Stream
Nord Stream 2, which at full capacity will 2 would secure certification services, given that
WHAT NEXT: pump 55bn cubic metres per year of Russian Norway’s DNV said in January it could no longer
Warnig said the testing gas to Germany, was originally expected online provide pipeline integrity verification services
and certification process before the end of 2019. But the project was because of the threat posed by US sanctions.
for each string would take delayed, first by permitting issues with Denmark “The US sanctions threats have made our
three months, meaning and later by US sanctions, which forced Swiss work much more difficult in every respect,
first gas could come as pipelayer Allseas to halt its work. Since then, and this also applies to certification,” the CEO
early as September. Russia has deployed its own pipelaying vessels explained. “But we are working on solutions

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