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#Nord_Stream 2 project can bec
ome collision point in transatlantic relations - Rinkevics
▻https://www.baltictimes.com/nord_stream_2_project_can_become_collision_point_in_transatlantic_relatRIGA - The planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline can become a collision point in transatlantic relations, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (Unity) believes.
While participating in a roundtable of an energy security conference organized by the Munich Security Conference and the ONS (Offshore Northern Seas Foundation) in Stavanger, Norway, Rinkevics expressed concern about the Nord Stream 2 project, which threatens to increase dependence on one dominant supplier and delivery route, which is contrary to the principles of the Energy Union (EU), LETA was told at the Latvian Foreign Ministry.
Rinkevics argued that the only way to address these issues at the EU level was to support the diversification of energy supply sources and develop the EU’s internal energy market. Moreover, energy is not only a matter for European security but also a question of transatlantic relations. Nord Stream 2 can become one of the collision points in the transatlantic relationship.
At the same time, Rinkevics indicated that Latvia and the other Baltic States had done much to integrate into the EU energy market, which means that the Baltic States can no longer be regarded as “energy islands”.
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Europe and Nord Stream 2
▻https://www.cepa.org/europe-and-nord-stream-2
Myths, Reality, and the Way Forward
Today, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) releases a groundbreaking report, Europe and Nord Stream 2: Myths, Reality, and the Way Forward. This comprehensive analysis of Nord Stream 2 considers the commercial and political implications of the project, while offering actionable recommendations for stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic.
#nordstream #gaz #gazprom #europe #allemagne #russie #énergie #guerre_du_gaz #tubes
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Is the ’Bulgarian Stream’ on its way?
▻http://www.balkaneu.com//is-the-bulgarian-stream-on-its-way
Turbulence is triggered by the statement of the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, as recorded by Kommersant newspaper.
According to him, both Bulgaria and Russia will only benefit from the ’resurrection’ of the rejected South Stream pipeline, which was intended to be the counterweight to the Nord Stream pipeline and to feed the Balkans and SE Europe more widely with Russian natural gas.
If its revival is not feasible, it could very well, he argued, build a submarine pipeline under the Black Sea that will directly connect Russia with Bulgaria, irrespective of the Turkish Stream pipeline, which already links Russia with Turkey.
#gaz #guerre_du_gaz #bulgarie #russie #gazprom #nabucco #mer_noie #crimée
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Germany starts to build Nord Stream 2
▻https://euobserver.com/foreign/141756
Germany has started to pour concrete on a Russian gas pipeline that risks dividing the EU and harming its energy security.
The construction began in Lubmin, on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, on Thursday (3 May), by laying the foundations for a gas terminal that will receive 55bn cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline when it goes online in 2020.
“We are moving within the framework of the planning approval decision,” a spokesman for Gazprom, the Russian firm behind the project, told German press agency DPA.
“We are confident that we will receive all relevant permits,” the spokesman added.
#nordstream #gazprom #guerre_du_gaz #russie #allemagne #mer_baltique #énergie
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Merkel Says Nord Stream 2 Not Possible Without Clarity for Ukraine - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/04/10/world/europe/10reuters-germany-ukraine.html
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/1wsj30tes5q4ooj/Capture%20d%E2%80%99%C3%A9cran%202018-04-11%20%C3%A0%2009.51.19.png?dl=0 
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/78tsbdhn1xthwv7/nordstream.png?dl=0 BERLIN — A gas pipeline planned to run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea cannot go ahead without clarity on Ukraine’s role as a transit route for gas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday, appearing to harden her stance on the scheme.
The project, Nord Stream 2, would double the existing Nord Stream pipeline’s annual capacity of 55 billion cubic metres.
Eastern European and Baltic states fear the pipeline could increase reliance on Russian gas and undermine Ukraine’s role as a gas transit route, which provides valuable revenues to a country hit by a civil war with pro-Russian separatists.
#gaz #guerre_du_gaz #gazprom #allemagne #russie #ukraine #pologne #europe
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Why is #Nord_Stream 2 Dangerous for Ukraine and Europe? — Interview – Ukraine World International
▻http://ukraineworld.org/2018/03/why-is-nord-stream-2-dangerous-for-ukraine-and-europe-interviewn 27 March 2018, Germany has approved the construction and operation of the Russia-built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Russian state-owned company energy Gazprom presented this project to expand Nord Stream, a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany which is the main channel for supplying Russian gas to the EU, back in 2015. The planned new pipeline – Nord Stream 2 – is intended to strengthen Russia’s position on the gas transit market. Mykhaylo Honchar, President of the Strategy XXI Centre for Global Studies, explained to UkraineWorld why the new gas pipeline is a threat both to Ukraine and the European Union.
What Nord Stream 2 is all about
Nord Stream 2 is one of the so-called bypass projects being implemented by Russia in accordance with its energy strategy approved in 2003. One of the strategic goals is the creation of trans-border gas systems bypassing transit countries. This applies not only to Ukraine, but to other countries as well. The gas from Siberia to Europe has always flowed through the territory of Ukraine and former Czechoslovakia. In this way, it remains the same, so we are talking about the fact that one of the traditional routes for the supply of gas to Europe is the Ukrainian-Slovak one. Russia aims to minimise transit through Ukraine. They say Ukraine has a transit monopoly, but this is not true. This was in line with the realities of the 1990s. However, as Russia built new gas pipelines, this reality has changed, and there is nothing left of Ukraine’s transit monopoly.
#gaz #guerre_du_gaz #russie #allemagne #pologne #europe #guerre_des_tubes
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Russia may be raising the stakes on Turkey after it shot down a Russian air force jet - Business Insider
▻http://uk.businessinsider.com/russia-may-be-raising-the-stakes-on-turkey-after-it-shot-down-a-Dans cet article sur #turkish_stream (toujours pas de décision), les « incompréhensions » (au minimum) des pays d’Europe centrale sur la politique gazière de la CE (on rappellera que la non réalisation de #south_stream est une conséquence de la participation de Gazprom au projet, le même Gazprom étant associé à #north_stream II apparemment, sans que cela pose de problème)
In September, a group of European companies signed an agreement with Gazprom to expand its Nord Stream pipeline so that it can deliver increased volumes directly from Russia to Germany, also without pumping them through Ukraine.
Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell form the new consortium for the project, which is called Nord Stream II and aims to double the route’s annual capacity to about 100 billion cubic meters of gas.
The new pipelines are due to start transporting gas by the end of 2019, according to the consortium.
The plan has met opposition from the U.S. government and some eastern European countries, which say it allows the Kremlin to squeeze Ukraine out from its role as a transit country.
The pro-Western government in Kiev, in power since street protests overthrew a Moscow-friendly president last year, earns significant revenues from transit fees.
Ten EU countries have written a letter to the European Commission saying that Nord Stream II runs counter to the bloc’s interests.
Polish Minister for Maritime Affairs Marek Grobarczyk told Reuters last week the project would harm energy security by deepening dependence on Russian gas.
“There is a broad agreement within EU countries ... that building Nord Stream II stands against the idea of diversification and the idea of the internal market and would lead to an increase of energy supplies from one direction and one supplier,” Grobarczyk said.
Hungary, a country which backed the aborted South Stream project, has accused the EU of exercising double standards over which pipeline routes it supports and which it opposes.
“They complained about South Stream because it would have bypassed Ukraine. Does Nord Stream II traverse Ukraine?”, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Nov. 20. “Interestingly, South Stream was problematic, while Nord Stream is not.”
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Forget Ukraine. It’s Business As Usual Between Europe and Russia
▻http://www.newsweek.com/forget-ukraine-its-business-usual-between-europe-and-russia-369730It was just like the old days before the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014. At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok Gazprom clinched three major deals with some of Europe’s biggest energy companies.
One of the most important was the revival of a lucrative asset swap between the Russian energy giant and Wintershall, the energy division of BASF, a German chemical company. BASF had abandoned that swap arrangement in December 2014 because of the geopolitical consequences of Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.
The asset swap and other deals signed in Vladivostok show how German as well as Austrian energy companies are loath to quit Russia. They also show how Gazprom wants to tie Europe’s lucrative gas market more closely to Russia. In 2013, Russia supplied the EU’s 28 countries with 30 percent of their gas needs.
But more importantly, the deals confirm how Russia is determined to end Ukraine’s role as the major transit route for Russian gas to Europe. Half of the Russian gas imported by Europe crosses Ukraine.
Under the terms of the deal between BASF and Gazprom, BASF’s subsidiary Wintershall will obtain a stake of 25 percent plus one share in the Urengoy natural gas fields in Siberia. Both firms will develop the fields.
In return, Wintershall will transfer to Gazprom its jointly owned gas storage and trading business in Germany as well as a stake in its business in Austria. Through the asset swap, Gazprom will also receive a 50 percent stake in Wintershall’s exploration and production of oil and gas in the North Sea. These activities amounted to sales of over $13.4 billion in 2014, according to BASF.
The second deal agreed to in Vladivostok involves Gazprom and a European consortium building a second Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea. This will enable Russia to send more of its gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.
The consortium consists of BASF, German energy company E.ON, French electricity company Engie, Austrian oil and gas firm OMV and Royal Dutch Shell. Gazprom will own a 51 percent share of a new company called New European Pipeline AG, which will develop the project. The other partners will have a 10 percent stake, except for Engie, which will own 9 percent.
“The fact that the global energy majors participate in the project bespeaks its significance for securing reliable gas supply to European consumers,” stated Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.
Tell that to Poland and the Baltic states—and Ukraine. They had criticized the first Nord Stream pipeline, which was agreed to under the then German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2005. At the time, Warsaw argued that the deal increased Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
Since then, however, Europe has been diversifying its energy supplies, spurred by the 2009 Ukraine gas crisis, which disrupted supplies to Europe because of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over energy prices.
Also, through its Third Energy Package, the European Commission is introducing more competition in the energy sector by breaking the hold any one company can have over the production, distribution and trading of gas. That is one of the main reasons why in December 2014 Russia pulled out of the South Stream project, which was to transport gas across the Black Sea to Southeastern Europe. Under the terms of the commission package, Russia would have had to open up the gas pipeline to competition.
The third deal reached in Vladivostok involves OMV’s participation in the Urengoy oil and gas fields. When the deal is concluded, OMV will acquire a 24.8 percent stake in the project in exchange for Gazprom obtaining some of the assets of OMV.
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Sans trop de surprise, le projet de #North_Stream_2 ne plait pas à l’Ukraine…
Ukraine PM calls second Russia-Germany pipeline ’anti-European’ - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-pm-calls-second-russia-germany-pipeline-anti-173441635.htmlUkrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Thursday criticised as “anti-Ukrainian and anti-European” a deal between Russia’s energy giant Gazprom and several Western firms to build a second gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea.
In June, Gazprom agreed with Anglo-Dutch Shell, Germany’s E.ON and Austria’s OMV to build the new gas pipeline — dubbed Nord Stream-2 — to Germany, bypassing conflict-torn Ukraine and also EU neighbour Poland.
“When the first Nord Stream was built, it brought the European Union no additional energy independence,” Yatsenyuk said after talks with Slovak counterpart Robert Fico in Bratislava.
“The construction of Nord Stream-2 is affecting the security of the continuous gas supply of the EU’s southeastern countries. It is a monopolisation of gas supply routes to the EU,” he told reporters.
“This project is anti-Ukrainian and anti-European.”
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“This project is anti-Ukrainian and anti-European.”
Pourquoi on rigole toujours (jaune) quand on lit les gens au pouvoir en Ukraine ?
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Reshuffling Eurasia’s energy deck — Iran, China and #Pipelineistan: Escobar
BY PEPE ESCOBAR on JULY 31, 2015 in AT TOP WRITERS, CENTRAL ASIA, EMPIRE OF CHAOS, PEPE ESCOBAR, SOUTH ASIA
Pipelineistan – the prime Eurasian energy chessboard — never sleeps. Recently, it’s Russia that has scored big on all fronts; two monster gas deals sealed with China last year; the launch of Turk Stream replacing South Stream; and the doubling of Nord Stream to Germany.Now, with the possibility of sanctions on Iran finally vanishing by late 2015/early 2016, all elements will be in place for the revival of one of Pipelineistan’s most spectacular soap operas, which I have been following for years; the competition between the IP (Iran-Pakistan) and TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipelines.
The $7.5-billion IP had hit a wall for years now – a casualty of hardcore geopolitical power play. IP was initially IPI – connected to India; both India and Pakistan badly need Iranian energy. And yet relentless pressure from successive Bush and Obama administrations scared India out of the project. And then sanctions stalled it for good.
Now, Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi swears IP is a go. The Iranian stretch of the 1,800-kilometer pipeline has already been built. IP originates in the massive South Pars gas fields – the largest in the world – and ends in the Pakistani city of Nawabshah, close to Karachi. The geopolitical significance of this steel umbilical cord linking Iran and Pakistan couldn’t be more graphic.
Enter – who else? – China. Chinese construction companies already started working on the stretch between Nawabshah and the key strategic port of Gwadar, close to the Iranian border.
China is financing the Pakistani stretch of IP. And for a very serious reason; IP, for which Gwadar is a key hub, is essential in a much larger long game; the $46 billion China-Pakistan economic corridor, which will ultimately link Xinjiang to the Persian Gulf via Pakistan. Yes, once again, we’re right into New Silk Road(s) territory.
Workers in Kazakhstan complete a section of a pan-Central Asian gas pipeline
And the next step regarding Gwadar will be essential for China’s energy strategy; an IP extension all the way to Xinjiang. That’s a huge logistical challenge, implying the construction of a pipeline parallel to the geology — defying Karakoram highway.IP will continue to be swayed by geopolitics. The Japan-based and heavily US-influenced Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed a $30 million loan to help Islamabad build its first LNG terminal. The ADB knows that Iranian natural gas is a much cheaper option for Pakistan compared to LNG imports. And yet the ADB’s agenda is essentially an American agenda; out with IP, and full support to TAPI.
This implies, in the near future, the strong possibility of Pakistan increasingly relying on the China-driven Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB) for infrastructure development, and not the ADB.
Recently, the IP field got even more crowded with the arrival of Gazprom. Gazprom also wants to invest in IP – which means Moscow getting closer to Islamabad. That’s part of another key geopolitical gambit; Pakistan being admitted as a full member, alongside India, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), something that will happen, soon, with Iran as well. For the moment, Russia-Pakistan collaboration is already evident in an agreement to build a gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore.
Talk to the (new) Mullah
So where do all these movements leave TAPI?
The $10 billion TAPI is a soap opera that stretches all the way back to the first Clinton administration. This is what the US government always wanted from the Taliban; a deal to build a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India bypassing Iran. We all know how it all went horribly downhill.
The death of Mullah Omar – whenever that happened – may be a game changer. Not for the moment, tough, because there is an actual Taliban summer offensive going on, and “reconciliation” talks in Afghanistan have been suspended.
Whatever happens next, all the problems plaguing TAPI remain. Turkmenistan – adept of self-isolation, idiosyncratic and unreliable as long as it’s not dealing with China – is a mystery concerning how much natural gas it really holds (the sixth largest or third largest reserves in the world?)
And the idea of committing billions of dollars to build a pipeline traversing a war zone – from Western Afghanistan to Kandahar, not to mention crossing a Balochistan prone to separatist attacks — is nothing short of sheer lunacy.
Energy majors though, remain in the game. France’s Total seems to be in the lead, with Russian and Chinese companies not far behind. Gazprom’s interest in TAPI is key – because the pipeline, if built, would certainly be connected in the future to others which are part of the massive, former Soviet Union energy grid.
To complicate matters further, there is the fractious relationship between Gazprom and Turkmenistan. Until the recent, spectacular Chinese entrance, Ashgabat depended mostly on Russia to market Turkmen gas, and to a lesser extent, Iran.
As part of a nasty ongoing dispute, Turkmengaz accuses Gazprom of economic exploitation. So what is Plan B? Once again, China. Beijing already buys more than half of all Turkmen gas exports. That flows through the Central Asia-China pipeline; full capacity of 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year, only used by half at the moment.
China is already helping Turkmenistan to develop Galkynysh, the second largest gas field in the world after South Pars.
And needless to add, China is as much interested in buying more gas from Turkmenistan – the Pipelineistan way – as from Iran. Pipelineistan fits right into China’s privileged “escape from Malacca” strategy; to buy a maximum of energy as far away from the U.S. Navy as possible.
So Turkmenistan is bound to get closer and closer, energy-wise, to Beijing. That leaves the Turkmen option of supplying the EU in the dust – as much as Brussels has been courting Ashgabat for years.
The EU pipe dream is a Pipelineistan stretch across the Caspian Sea. It won’t happen, because of a number of reasons; the long-running dispute over the Caspian legal status – Is it a lake? Is it a sea? – won’t be solved anytime soon; Russia does not want it; and Turkmenistan does not have enough Pipelineistan infrastructure to ship all that gas from Galkynysh to the Caspian.
Considering all of the above, it’s not hard to identify the real winner of all these interlocking Pipelineistan power plays – way beyond individual countries; deeper Eurasia integration. And so far away from Western interference.
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Le point sur les projets de gazoducs par le Ministre de l’énergie russe, Alexandre Novak
(en deuxième partie, après les considérations sur les « négociations » entre l’Ukraine et la Russie…)Russia may ease Ukraine’s gas terms, but Kiev must settle its bills | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-russia-crisis-novak-gas-idUSKBN0M70IQ20150311Russia has a long-term goal of bypassing Ukraine as a transit country. It ships around 40 percent of its gas to Europe via Ukraine, while the rest goes via Belarus, Moldova, the Nord Stream subsea pipeline to Germany and the Blue Stream subsea pipeline to Turkey.
In December last year it canceled plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onwards into southeast Europe.
It is now planning an alternative export route, unofficially called Turkish Stream, with a capacity of 63 bcm per year.
Instead of extending the pipeline further to Europe, Gazprom now plans to sell its gas at a hub on the Turkish-Greek border, requiring those European countries who want access to the gas to build links to the hub.
“Now counties should be building (onshore links) on their own. The routes could be different - they may come to Italy if they want. This is not our business anymore,” he said.
Novak added that the costs of the offshore parts of Turkish Stream would be “comparable” to those of the South Stream project. The budget to build the offshore section of South Stream was previously estimated at up to 17 billion euros ($18.3 billion).
Russia is also planning to ramp up gas exports to Asia to reduce its reliance on sales to Europe.
Russia plans to ship gas to China via two yet-to-be-built pipelines: Power of Siberia, supplied exclusively by two Siberian gas fields, and Altai, which is to connect the Russian gas pipeline system from West to East.
Russia and China reached agreement on the Power of Siberia pipeline last May. Novak said he hoped for a firm contract for Altai in the first half of this year.
“These (two) projects are not linked to each other... (The contract signed last May) will be implemented irrespective of whether Altai happens or not,” Novak said.
He added that Russia was sticking to plans to deliver its first gas to China via Power of Siberia at the end of 2018 or start of 2019. Russia and China are not discussing a pre-payment or loan for the Power of Siberia project anymore, he said.
Donc, Gazprom laisse l’Europe se débrouiller à partir de la frontière turque : le « troisième paquet » sera respecté.
