The Nord Stream 2
gas pipeline is intended
to transport 55 billion
cubic meters of Russian
natural gas to Germany,
per year, under the
Baltic Sea:
The $10 billion project is about
one month from completion.
The Trump Administration
has forced the project to stop.
The 2020 U.S. National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA),
signed before Christmas,
threatens sanctions and the
freezing of assets, against
companies laying down the
pipeline, unless their
activities cease
“immediately”.
Swiss company
Allseas
has suspended
its Nord Stream 2
pipe laying activities.
The United States says
Nord Stream 2 poses
a security threat.
US ambassador to Berlin,
Richard Grenell, warned
that “one country (Russia)
or source (for natural gas)
has the ability to create
undue leverage over Europe”
— in reference to the
Nord Stream 2 project.
Trump’s former secretary
of state, Rex Tillerson, saw it as
“undermining Europe’s overall
energy security and stability.”
US energy secretary Rick Perry
argues that “Russian gas
has strings attached.”
The claim is
that Germany
will become
too reliant
on Russian gas.
Ukraine had been the
gatekeeper for Russian
gas supply, with 40%
of Europe’s total amount
transiting through pipelines
crossing Ukrainian soil.
The Nord Stream 2
consortium claims
“Completing the project
is essential for European
(energy) supply security.”
For a EU spokesman,
this constituted
“the imposition
of sanctions
against EU
companies
conducting
legitimate
business.”
Allseas, the Swiss company
that is Nord Stream’s main
contractor, said its workers,
as well as partner contractors,
have laid down their tools.
The Allseas ships Solitaire,
and Pioneering Spirit,
the largest construction
vessel in the world,
will remain in the area,
but are no longer laying
the pipes, a spokesman
for Allseas said.
Majority stakeholder Gazprom
(Russian) says it will complete
the project, circumventing the
US sanctions.
The U.S. sanctions
are unnecessary
because no one
will be harmed
by Nord Stream 2.
The sanctions are just
political pressure on
European countries
to adopt anti-Russian
policies.
The pipeline is really
none of our business.
It's an
energy project,
by six companies,
following
EU regulations,
to provide
energy security
for Germany.
Germany needs the
pipeline for natural
gas.
Europe is
willing to defy
the U.S. to get
Nord Stream 2
completed.
More gas pipelines
will be needed
in the future.
The U.S. wanted to set
energy policy for Europe.
Trump complains the
U.S. spends too much
on defense to subsidize
NATO, protecting Europe
from Russia.
While EU nations
spend too little
on their defense
That’s unfair.
So maybe NATO
should be ended ?
Bring our troops home ?
Does Trump think stopping
Nord Stream 2 is the price
Europe has to pay him
for NATO protection ?
Germany wil approve
all necessary permits
to get the pipeline done.
There is no longer
any urgency to finish
Nord Stream 2,
because Ukraine
and Russia just came
to terms on a new
five-year gas
transit contract.
This ensures that
Russia's Gazprom
can continue
sending gas
to Europe
through pipelines
crossing Ukraine,
which had been
in doubt for 2020.
The U.S. believed that
keeping Russian gas
out of Europe would hurt
Russia’s economic growth,
and open the European
market for sales of
U.S. liquid natural gas.
( LNG )
But European natural gas
prices are low, and gas
supplies are very high,
thanks to fears of a
Russia-Ukraine pipeline
deal not happening for 2020.
The EU could threaten
counter-sanctions against
the U.S., and ban all U.S.
LNG shipments to Europe,
while Nord Stream 2
is being completed.
Even without counter
sanctions, current prices
and high gas inventories
would mean low U.S.
LNG sales to Europe.
Even lower LNG sales
after Nord Stream 2
is completed.
There is no place
for U.S. LNG in Europe,
outside of Poland,
who waste money on it
just to insult Russia !