The US State Department has warned European companies that it suspects Russia of aiding Nort Stream 2 in setting up a pipeline that could be allowed. It said the Trump administration was preparing final round of penal measures against the plan Reuters.
Billion 11 billion investment
The Nortstream 2 pipeline is a $ 11 billion investment. It is funded by half of Gosprom and half of the five European companies (OMV, Wintershall Engi, Uniper and Shell). Nord Stream 2 will double the carrying capacity of Nord Stream 1 to 110 billion cubic meters per year. Thus, large quantities of Russian natural gas would reach Germany directly via the Baltic Sea without passing through Ukraine. “We are trying to inform companies of what the risk is and ask them to leave until it is too late,” US government sources said anonymously.
US target companies
The US State Department is expected to release a report on Thursday or Friday on companies suspected of aiding the Nort Stream 2 project.
Although the 1,230-kilometer pipeline is almost complete, the project was abruptly halted in December 2019 following a US decision to grant permission to companies involved in the project. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany was reopened in early December 2020. The Nordstream 2 project faces political opposition from Washington, which claims to be making Germany a “prisoner” of Russia. President Donald Trump warned in 2018.
Russia says the Nord Stream 2 project, promoted by the Coalition led by the state energy group Gazprom, is strictly commercial. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, also said the pipeline was a strict business plan. Berlin officials say they need more natural gas because of the closure of coal-fired power plants and nuclear power plants for environmental reasons.
The next US President Joe Biden also opposed the plan when he was vice president in the Barack Obama administration. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
