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(Nord Stream Pipeline)

European Union leaders are scrambling for solutions to the energy crisis, but their feared friend from the East has reminded them that a solution exists. According to the Associated Press, gas prices in the EU have spiked to 95 euros from about 19 euros per megawatt-hour in the past year. Around 90% of gas is imported to the EU, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the only long-term solution is to invest in renewable energy. “And in the long term, there is only one solution — invest more in renewable energy so we are less vulnerable to price fluctuations for fossil fuels,” he said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed the Green Deal plan for higher prices, which aims to reduce greenhouse emissions by 55% by 2030, with the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Some leaders are pointing to the use of nuclear energy, such as France, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. However, the 27-nation bloc has not designated nuclear power as a sustainable investment yet.

(Nord Stream 2 Pipeline)

In comes Putin and the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would carry much-needed gas from Russia to the EU beneath the Baltic Sea. “If the German regulator gives approval tomorrow, supplies of 17.5 billion cubic meters of gas will start the day after tomorrow,” Putin said. The Russian president has previously criticized the EU for not signing long-term contracts and failing to work with Russia on energy trade. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that relying on gas from Russia makes the bloc “vulnerable,” but it seems that they are already vulnerable and in a worsening situation with no solution in sight. EU energy ministers are set to meet in December, where they are likely to kick around solutions while ignoring the one that is a pipeline away.

Putin Lays Cards Down: Approve Nord Stream 2 To Get More Gas

October 26, 2021

Putin Lays Cards Down: Approve Nord Stream 2 To Get More Gas

Russia could immediately increase natural gas deliveries to Europe as soon as German authorities approve the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Financial Times reports, citing President Vladimir Putin as saying gas can be delivered “the day after tomorrow” if approval is granted “tomorrow”.

Putin said Russia could deliver an additional 17.5 billion cu m of gas if the new pipeline gets the green light. This amount, according to the FT, is equal to a tenth of Russian gas deliveries to Europe and Turkey last year and would come not a moment too soon as Europe continues to struggle to fill up its reserves ahead of winter.

However, the Russian president’s statement is also likely to spark anger in Europe since it confirms suspicions that Russia wants to withhold additional supplies for Europe until Nord Stream 2 is approved. Moscow officials have said that Gazprom was prioritizing domestic energy security, and the company itself has repeatedly stated that it had fulfilled its delivery obligations under long-term contracts with European buyers.

Earlier this week, sources from Moscow also hinted that there would be more gas for Europe if Nord Stream 2 is approved, Bloomberg reported. But, separately, speaking to Bloomberg, a Russian MP said, “We cannot ride to the rescue just to compensate for mistakes that we didn’t commit.”

Meanwhile, top Russian officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and former Energy Minister Alexander Novak, have argued that Europe’s gas crisis was not the result of insufficient supply but a consequence of lower than usual inventories and bad decisions on the part of politicians.

At the same time, some in Brussels are accusing Gazprom of market manipulation to make prices rise. More than 40 members of the European Parliament from all political groups have reportedly urged the European Commission to launch an investigation into Gazprom over alleged market manipulation that could have contributed to the record-high natural gas prices in Europe.

Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Fully Completed – Russia Celebrates ‘Failure’ Of US Efforts To Stop It

September 11, 2021

Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Fully Completed – Russia Celebrates ‘Failure’ Of US Efforts To Stop It

“Chairman of the Management Committee Alexei Miller said that this morning at 8.45 Moscow time (05:45 GMT) construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was fully completed,” Gazprom announced on its social media accounts Friday.

*Workers on the laybarge Fortuna in German waters in the Baltic Sea celebrate completion, via Reuters.*

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his backers in Washington have accused Russia of pursuing the project in order to punish Kiev by cutting it out of essential natural gas transit fees that would normally be collected through its territory.

It seems that since the project started in 2016, Russia became ever more determined as US sanctions seeking to halt the project grew – at one point even outfitting Gazprom ships to become pipe-laying vessels after a European company bowed out.

Earlier this week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared efforts by the US to stop construction through political pressure and sanctions an utter failure. He said “there is still a full-frontal attack, in spite of everything, on Nord Stream 2,” even though “everyone knows the Americans have realized [it will be completed].”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

EU Won’t Block Controversial Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

February 8, 2019

EU Won’t Block Controversial Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

Update: Following reports that France would effectively kill the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, EU officials including German Chancellor Angela Merkel affirmed on Friday that an agreement has been reached which will allow construction of the pipeline to move forward – handing a major victory to Germany and Russia (and a stunning defeat for President Trump).

At a meeting in Brussels on Friday, EU diplomats advanced a draft gas-market law, initially proposed in late 2017, while greatly cutting back a provision that would have effectively blocked the pipeline.

The deal will allow negotiations with the European Parliament on a final version of the legislation to begin. Both sides are aiming for an official agreement as soon as next week, and no later than the end of May.

* * *

As The European Union and the US struggle to block the controversial international pipeline project Nord Stream 2, a 760-mile pipeline that would allow Russia to export natural gas directly to Germany – depriving Ukraine of badly needed gas transit fees along the current route for Russian supplies – France on Friday officially announced its opposition to the project, revealing that it would vote with a bloc of EU nations seeking to torpedo the project.

Earlier reports suggested that the opposition in Paris is rooted in the fear that the pipeline would confer too much “strategic power” on Moscow, potentially complicating its relationship with Brussels. Reuters has previously reported that Paris’s vote against the project could rob Germany of the blocking minority it needs to move the project forward.

But later on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a deal had been reached on Nord Stream 2.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Controversial Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Could Be Operational By November

February 1, 2019

Controversial Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Could Be Operational By November

In what would be an early geopolitical win for Moscow, German news agency DW reported yesterday, citing one of the project’s engineers, that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline should be operational by November.

Klaus Haussmann, an engineer at Nord Stream 2’s future landfall site at Lubmin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, told German public radio station Deutschlandfunk that the “raw” laying of the pipeline would be finished by the middle of 2019, according to the DW report. “Then comes the entire installation of the electrical equipment, security chains. And, then it’s planned on the large scale that we get the first conduit filled with gas in November, from Russia,” Haussmann said.

Haussmann said his concern was more the impact of the Baltic’s winter weather and waves on construction at sea and less so the international pros and cons. “For two years or more, Nord Stream 2 has been pretty much under fire. But at the moment we have more worries with the weather outside,” he said.

Geopolitically charged pipeline

Nord Stream 2 is a 759 mile (1,222 km) natural gas pipeline running on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russian gas fields to Germany, bypassing existing land routes over Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. It would double the existing Nord Stream pipeline’s current annual capacity of 55 bcm.

However, it is arguably one of the most geopolitically charged energy projects ever proposed. Germany maintains that the pipeline is needed to increase natural gas supply as some EU members move away from nuclear for power generation, but not everyone agrees. The U.S., under the past three presidents including Donald Trump, has long countered that the pipeline puts European national security in jeopardy – a concern that seems grounded given Russia’s history of using gas a geopolitical weapon in the middle of winter.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Trump Firmly In the Twilight Zone: Threatens Nord Stream 2 With Sanctions

June 29, 2018

Trump Firmly In the Twilight Zone: Threatens Nord Stream 2 With Sanctions

Trump’s vise on the EU started with steel, progressed to cars, then to Iran, and now to a gas pipeline vital to the EU.

The story of the day, not discussed in mainstream media, involves Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline between Russia and the EU. The feature image is from Gazprom.

Gazprom says “The new pipeline, similar to the one in operation, will establish a direct link between Gazprom and the European consumers. It will also ensure a highly reliable supply of Russian gas to Europe.”

Some suggest the EU is unwise to depend on Russia. That is nonsense. Why?

Free trade stops wars!

Regardless, it is the EU’s decision to make, not Trump’s, and the deal is already underway.

Gazprom, Partners Invest €4.8 Billion Nord Stream 2 Construction

TASS, the Russian news agency reports Gazprom, Partners Invest €4.8 Billion Nord Stream 2 Construction.

Believe that? Why not? There is no dispute from the EU.

My point is the investment.

Russia’s gas producer Gazprom and its Nord Stream 2 partners have invested a total of 4.8 bln euro in the project on natural gas pipeline construction as of the end of June, Chief Financial Officer of Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the pipeline construction, Paul Corcoran told journalists on Thursday.

“We have received 96% of the pipes, we have concrete coated 55% of those pipes and we mobilized vessels for the pipelines. So we are quite well prepared on track and on time for the project,” CFO added.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019.

Stop It All Says Trump

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