Russia’s Nord Stream 2 to restart pipeline activities despite US sanctions

Russia’s Nord Stream 2 plans to restart pipe-laying work on a 2.6km stretch of the stalled $11.2bn gas pipeline link in Germany’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) this year.

The latest news on the resumption activity comes after outgoing US President Donald Trump, whose administration opposed the gas pipeline, lost to new presidential-elect Joe Biden during the 3 November election.

The move comes despite the US sanctions, which have been designed to end the pipeline that would bring Russian gas to Germany, BloombergQuint reported.

The news agency quoted Nord Stream 2 company spokesman Jens Mueller as stating via email that the pipelaying work on the link would restart on 5 December.

Last December, work was halted on the gas pipeline link as pipe-laying firm Allseas suspended operations because of ‘US sanctions targeting companies providing vessels’ to lay the pipes.

The Nord Stream 2 will transport up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per annum from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea.

Expected to deliver reliable and sustainable new gas supplies to the EU, the pipeline project will run from the Ust-Luga area of Leningrad, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany.

Construction of the 1,230km pipeline is almost complete except for a final stretch of about 120km in the Danish waters.

Russian gas firm Gazprom leads the Nord Stream 2, with half of the financing provided from Germany’s Uniper and BASF’s Wintershall, oil major Shell, Austria’s OMV, as well as Engie.

In October, Poland’s anti-monopoly UOKiK watchdog fined Gazprom over sl29bn ($7.6bn) for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without its approval.