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Second gas pipeline under Baltic in the works

PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper 19.06.2015 11:12
Russian energy giant Gazprom this week signed a letter of intent with Shell, E.ON and OMV to work on the second pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Photo: Wikimedia CommonsPhoto: Wikimedia Commons

The pipeline will have the same capacity as the existing Nord Stream pipeline – 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year – and if built will double the quantity of gas exported to Germany from Russia.

"The construction of additional transport infrastructure along the shortest route between gas fields in northern Russia and markets in Europe will contribute to increasing the safety and reliability of deliveries for new contracts," said Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.

Germany is the largest buyer of Russian natural gas, with a total volume of 40 billion cubic meters in 2013. Gazprom supplies 30 percent of the EU's gas needs.

Nord Stream is an offshore natural gas pipeline from Vyborg in the Russian Federation to Greifswald in Germany. At 1,222 kilometres (759 miles) in length, it is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world.

"The implementation of Nord Stream has demonstrated that transporting gas through the Baltic Sea is a reliable solution that helps to meet the energy demand," Germany's largest gas supplier E.ON said in a statement on Thursday.

The pipeline bypasses Poland, and thus reduces transit costs, but also raises political hackles in some parts. Energy supplies to Europe from Russia have become politically sensitive since the outbreak of unrest in Ukraine, a key transit route for Russian energy.

State-owned Gazprom spokesperson Siergiej Kuprianov told reporters that the Russian firm would hold at least a 51 percent stake in the company.

Rusian newspaper Kommiersant reports that the pipeline will be an alternative to Turkish Stream. The pipeline will have the capacity to annually deliver 63 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and Greece from Russia. If the two Nord Stream pipelines are in operation under the Baltic by 2020, then the Turkish Stream may be limited to two rather than the planned four pipelines under the Black Sea, it reports. (jh)

Source: IAR, PAP

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