President Putin: 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year will be supplied to Europe via Nord Stream 2
Vladimir Putin. Photo: Kremlin Pool / Global Look Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, December 29, at a meeting on the passage of the autumn-winter heating season, said that gas supplies to Europe would begin after the decision to launch the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline was made. TASS reports.
As soon as they decide to start work, large volumes, additional volumes of Russian gas will immediately begin to flow to Europe. Let me remind you that this is 55 billion cubic meters a year.
Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia
The head of state announced that the filling of the second string of the pipeline with gas should be completed on December 29. He noted that “now, given the difficult situation of our foreign partners, Russia has the opportunity to increase gas exports.”
The President also expressed confidence that the launch of the project will help stabilize prices in Europe, which has recently faced an energy crisis amid a record rise in gas prices.
55,000,000,000 cubic meters of gas per year will be supplied by Russia to Europe after the launch of Nord Stream 2
Project readiness
During the same meeting, the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, announced that Nord Stream 2 was fully operational; on December 29, the filling of the second string was completed.
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“And now both the first and the second strings of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are under operating pressure and are fully ready for operation,” Miller said.
Certification
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has named the end of the first half of 2022 as the maximum deadline for completing the certification of the gas pipeline. At the same time, he noted that, if the European colleagues so desire, deliveries can begin earlier than the middle of the year.
Novak stressed that it is impossible to disrupt the implementation of the project, and gas will be supplied to Europe through it. According to him, earlier he had heard many different statements that the gas pipeline would never be completed, but in the end the construction was completed.
At the same time, the Federal Grid Agency reported on December 29 that nothing has changed in the situation with the certification of the Nord Stream 2 operator. The representative of the agency recalled that the head of the regulator Jochen Homan previously said that in the first half of 2022 he was not waiting for a decision on certification, and the necessary documents were not received.
On the same day, a representative of the German Ministry of Economy, Susanna Ungrad, found it difficult to specify the timing of the launch of Nord Stream 2. According to her, questions about the end of certification should be directed to the regulator.
German government crisis
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock (representative of the Greens in the Cabinet) said that Nord Stream 2 plays a large geostrategic role, and therefore cannot be considered a private commercial project. Thus, she indicated her disagreement with the position of the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who believes that the certification process for Nord Stream 2 should not have political overtones, and the new gas pipeline is a joint commercial project.
Bundestag deputy from the Alternative for Germany party Stefan Kotre in an interview with Lenta.ru noted that the contradictions between Berbock and Scholz on Nord Stream 2 indicate a crisis within the German government. In his opinion, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany is cut off from reality and thereby endangers not only the energy partnership between Germany and Russia, which has been proven for decades, but also the stability of energy supplies to Europe.
No US sanctions envisaged
American senators Democrat Jean Shahin and Republican Rob Portman called on the administration of US President Joe Biden to work closely with the new German government to suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
However, despite the previously voiced threats from Washington about sanctions against Russia over Nord Stream 2, President Joe Biden signed the country's defense budget for 2022, which does not include them. At the same time, the law still provides for funds to contain Russia.
Gas prices
On December 29, the price of gas futures on the London ICE exchange fell to a three-week low amid supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States. The contract prices for the delivery of the Dutch TTF hub fell by 12 percent (to $ 1,156.9 per thousand cubic meters), reaching a minimum since December 7. Nevertheless, prices are still five times higher than the average for the last 5 years.
European gas prices are falling for the sixth day in a row (the longest decline in a year) due to a set of factors favorable for the region: an increase in LNG supplies from the United States, a drop in demand after a suspension or slowdown by industrial enterprises due to record fuel prices, and Europe.
