Nord Stream 2: Pressure on Biden May Increase | News from Germany about events in the world

The pressure on US President Joseph Biden in connection with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, designed to connect Russia and Germany, may increase. The Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress approved an amendment that should prevent the US State Department from lifting sanctions against the project, recalls on Saturday, July 3, Reuters news agency.

“These sanctions are mandatory, they do not operate at anyone’s discretion,” – said in this regard, the author of the initiative, Marcy Captur, member of the US House of Representatives (Democrat from Ohio).

The amendment must be approved by both houses of the US Congress

The amendment applies to fiscal 2022 (it begins in the US on October 1, 2021). It was approved by a committee of the House of Representatives unanimously. Now the changes have yet to be approved by the full composition of the lower house, and then by the Senate, after which the document will go to US President Joseph Biden for signature.

The sanctions imposed by Washington in May against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its CEO Matthias Warnig were suspended immediately after their introduction, which the US Department of State explained as “national interests.” Later, the head of the White House said: since the gas pipeline is almost completed, at this stage the penalties would become “counterproductive.”

Ukraine and the Baltic countries oppose

Ukraine and the Baltic countries are actively opposed to the commissioning of the gas pipeline, fearing an increase in Russia’s influence on the European energy market. At the same time, the German government supports the project.

See also:

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Nord Stream 2 attracted Fortuna
To be or not to be in Europe for the new powerful Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2? In 2021, the fate of the project of Gazprom and five European financial firms should be finally decided. In an atmosphere of sharply escalated political discussions in the EU, the pipe-laying ship Fortuna in early February resumed laying pipes in the Baltic waters of Denmark, interrupted for more than a year due to US sanctions.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
“Academician Chersky” has been preparing for a whole year
In early April, the Akademik Chersky began work in the deeper waters of Denmark. This pipelayer left the Far Eastern port of Nakhodka towards the Baltic Sea back in February 2020. But it took him almost a year to undergo modernization in German ports, cruising between Germany and Russia, and to test new equipment several times off the coast of the Kaliningrad region (pictured).

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Lyubmin expects a doubling of supplies from the Russian Federation
The terminal for receiving 55 billion cubic meters per year along two lines of Nord Stream 2 (in the center of the picture near the coast) in German Lubmin near Greifswald was generally ready by the end of 2019. On the left, on the other side of the water area of a small port, is the receiving terminal of the first Nord Stream, operating since 2011, of the same capacity. Behind, they dismantle a closed GDR-era nuclear power plant and store nuclear waste.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Ukrainian transit: download or pay
Regardless of the possible completion of Nord Stream 2, Gazprom pledged to export 40 billion cubic meters annually through Ukraine by the end of 2024 or pay for this booked volume. But in 2021, demand in Europe may be higher due to the cold winter and empty gas storage facilities. However, for pumping additional volumes, Gazprom will have to pay at especially high transit tariffs.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Eugal: gas in Germany will not be delayed
The task of Nord Stream 2 is to provide gas not so much to the FRG as to those countries in the center and south of Europe, including Italy, which were previously supplied through Ukraine. This is evidenced by its continuation from Lubmin to the Czech Republic – Eugal. This gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year is also being laid across the Elbe in the picture. The end of the construction of the second line was postponed from January to April 2021.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
TAP: Azerbaijan supplies southern Europe
In three important for Gazprom countries in southern Europe – Greece, Bulgaria and especially Italy – Azerbaijani gas will continue to compete with Russian gas: in 2021, the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline TAP was launched. Together with TANAP, it forms the Southern Gas Corridor for deliveries to the EU, bypassing Russia, 10 billion cubic meters from the shores of the Caspian Sea. The picture shows a compressor station near the Greek village of Kipoy.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Baltic Pipe: Poland will change supplier
By the end of 2022, another large gas pipeline is to be commissioned in the Baltic: the Baltic Pipe with a capacity of 10 billion cubic meters per year. It is being built with EU support and will supply Norwegian gas via Denmark to Poland, which intends to completely stop purchasing from Gazprom by then. The picture shows the laying of pipes between the mainland of Denmark and the island of Funen.

European Gas Market 2021: Gazprom and Its Competitors
Yamal LNG clearly prefers Europe
Along with pipeline gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is increasingly being exported from Russia to the European market. As a result, Novatek became another actual competitor of Gazprom in Europe. Its Yamal LNG facility, which houses these ingeniously designed tanks, chose to ship roughly 90% of its production to European terminals in 2020 rather than Asia.
Author: Andrey Gurkov