Viktor Katona: Oilprice.com April 4, 2020

The gas giant Gazprom is no longer in the spotlight after the US Treasury sanctioned Rosneft, the Russian national oil company, most probably triggering the collapse of the OPEC+ agreement and bringing about an unexpectedly low pricing environment for March 2020 within both the oil and gas segments. Having launched Power of Siberia to China, Gazprom is now intent on bringing Nord Stream-2 online before the end of the year, moving its own pipe-laying vessel from the Russian Far East to the Baltic region to deliver on all its major promises from the 2010s. Yet there is one project that has had significant problems starting up, combining in itself all the deficiencies of modern-day Russia. read more

Bloomberg News: Patrick Donahue and Matthew Miller: February 15, 2020

(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s top energy official said he’s confident that Russia won’t be able to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea — and signaled that the U.S. will press forward with its opposition to the project.

Asked about Russian efforts to circumvent U.S. sanctions on the pipeline by completing it on its own, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said “they can’t” — and dismissed claims that project owner Gazprom PJSC will face only a short delay. read more

Natural gas output at Europe’s largest onshore gas field, the Netherlands’ Groningen, continued to fall sharply in December following the Dutch government’s tightening of the production quota, with volumes down 43% year on year.

The rapidly declining output at the field has eaten away at Dutch gas stocks, which have now fallen below Gas Year 2018 levels and are well below the European average.

A production cap has been put in place to prevent earthquakes linked to gas extraction at Groningen and the Dutch government plans to phase out gas extraction at the field completely by mid-2022. read more

English translation of an article published today by the Dutch FD

Russia has a ship to finish Nord Stream 2

From our editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia itself has a pipeline ship to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. The newspaper Kommersant reported this on Thursday, based on anonymous sources.

Earlier this week, under pressure from US sanctions legislation, the Dutch-Swiss offshore group Allseas stopped the construction of Nord Stream 2. This pipeline runs from the Russian Oest-Luga through the Baltic Sea and the Baltic Sea to the German Greifswald. read more

By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg Dec. 24, 2019 at 7:06 a.m. GMT

A new natural gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat and most recently has become the target of U.S. sanctions. The punitive measures approved by U.S. President Donald Trump have stymied construction just as the final sections of pipe were about to be laid.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a planned 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russian fields to the European network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route — the original Nord Stream — that opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.7 billion) cost. Denmark removed one of the project’s last hurdles in October when it approved construction of the link through its waters. read more

English translation of two Nord Stream 2 articles published today by the Dutch FD.

Berlin convinced: sanctions cannot stop the construction of the last 160 km of Nord Stream 2

By Pieter Lalkens and Jeroen Groot: 24 Dec 2019

The Solitaire was one of the ships of the Dutch-Swiss offshore company Allseas who worked on the Nord Stream 2. Gas pipeline. Photo: Reuters

In brief

• Allseas has stopped the construction of Nord Stream 2 under pressure from the American sanctions.
• But the gas pipeline is simply being phased out, German politicians expect.
• The latter does entail delays and higher costs.

Although the Dutch-Swiss offshore group Allseas has stopped the construction of Nord Stream 2 under pressure from US sanctions legislation, the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will be phased out in the view of German politics. The sanctions will only lead to a few months delay and higher costs.

“I assume that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be delivered in the second half of 2020,” said Peter Beyer, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German parliament, in a conversation with radio station Deutschlandfunk on Monday. read more

French electricity and gas firm Engie SA and Royal Dutch Shell are among other major companies alongside Gazprom which are major players in the controversial project.

By Zerohedge.com

Included in Wednesday’s just passed mammoth 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — which increases the Pentagon budget by $22 billion (to a whopping $738 billion) — were long-threatened sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 underwater natural gas pipeline.

In the House bill, expected to be approved by the Senate sometime next week before Trump signs it into law, are measures which specifically target companies assembling the pipeline, a last ditch US effort to block the controversial 760-mile project that would allow Russia to export natural gas directly to Germany, depriving Ukraine of badly needed gas transit fees along the current route for Russian supplies. read more

NOVEMBER 14, 2019 / 2:30 PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s competition watchdog said on Thursday it had decided to delay by three months Shell’s (RDSa.L) purchase of 9.3 billion roubles ($145.73 million) worth of shares in a subsidiary of Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM).

Shell is expected to buy a 50% stake in Meretoyakhaneftegaz, a Gazprom Neft subsidiary which holds licensing rights to the Meretoyakhinskoye oil field.

Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Jan Harvey read more

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors…

A new natural gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat and has prompted calls for sanctions from U.S. senators. Denmark gave approval on Oct. 30 for the pipeline to traverse its sub-sea territory, removing the final hurdle to its completion. Russian gas could be flowing through the conduit as soon as early next year.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a planned 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russian fields to the European network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route — the original Nord Stream — that opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.7 billion) in cost. As of the end of October, the link was 87% complete, according to Nord Stream. read more

Shell urges U.S. Congress to withhold Nord Stream 2 sanctions

October 1, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is asking the U.S. Congress not to enact sanctions against the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline to Germany, said Cederic Cremers, head of Shell’s business in Russia.

A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill in July to place sanctions on companies and individuals involved in building the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

The Donald Trump administration says the project would strengthen Moscow’s economic grip on Europe.

“If the current legislation under consideration in the U.S. Congress is passed, it will affect all of the companies involved with the project, including Shell. We therefore respectfully urge lawmakers not to enact these sanctions,” Shell’s Cremers said in emailed comments. read more

Investors include Royal Dutch Shell, which maintains a U.S. headquarters in Houston, and four other European energy firms.

Cruz legislation targeting Russian pipeline moves ahead

Greenpeace image relating to Shell/Russia Arctic Drilling Plans

By James Osborne: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

WASHINGTON – Legislation sanctioning construction companies that help complete a controversial Russian pipeline delivering natural gas to Europe cleared a critical legislative hurdle Wednesday.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who described the legislation as critical to limiting Russian influence in Europe at a time Moscow is working to interfere in elections there and in the United States. read more

By Energy Reporters  | 11.06.2019

European oil giants, including Royal Dutch Shell and OMV, have signed cooperation deals with Russian energy companies during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, despite risks of potential new western sanctions.

Since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions, Russian oil firms have operated with limited access to western financing and limits on production technology. 

Multinational oil firms have wound down cooperation that could be in breach of sanctions but work on conventional hydrocarbons projects continues to grow. Deals signed this week included Shell, Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the state-run gas giant, and Spain’s Repsol agreeing to jointly develop fossil-fuel projects in the melting Russian Arctic.  read more

FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2019

Gazprom and Shell have signed a Memorandum to construct the third production train of the LNG plant (Sakhalin II), as well as the Agreement of Strategic Cooperation.

Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in more than 70 countries.

Gazprom and Shell are jointly engaged in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia’s first LNG plant. The project operator of Sakhalin II is Sakhalin Energy (Gazprom – 50 per cent plus one share, Shell – 27.5 per cent minus one share, Mitsui – 12.5 per cent, and Mitsubishi – 10 per cent). read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch FT, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell is stepping out of a mega project with Gazprom

By Joost Bosman

Energy group Shell is withdrawing from the construction of an LNG plant on the Russian Baltic coast. The Russian partner Gazprom announced at the end of March that, in addition to the installation, it would also like to build a factory that can process fat gas from Western Siberia. The Anglo-Dutch oil company does not feel like that.

“Following Gazprom’s announcement on March 29 about the final development concept of Baltic LNG, we decided to stop our involvement in this project,” said Cederic Cremers, President of Shell Russia, in a statement. read more

Shell said that its other joint projects in Russia — chief among them the Gazprom-led Sakhalin-2 LNG plant — would be unaffected by its exit from the Baltic LNG project. But Shell’s involvement in Sakhalin expires this month. Unless the Russian government decides to extend the Sakhalin deal, Shell’s portfolio of Russian projects will be left looking thin.

Dmitry Zhdannikov, Olesya Astakhova: April 11, 2019: 7.07 PM LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell pulled out of a project to build a Russian liquefied natural gas plant partly because Gazprom suddenly added another partner with links to an ally of President Vladimir Putin, according to five sources. 

After three years work on the Baltic Coast project, Shell discovered that Gazprom was bringing in a company linked to Arkady Rotenberg, who is on a U.S. sanctions blacklist.

The sudden change in the line-up of partners was one of the key factors contributing to Shell’s Wednesday announcement that it was pulling out of the project, according to three sources close to Shell and two other sources familiar with the project.

Asked to comment on the reasons for withdrawing, a Shell spokesman said it had nothing to add to a previous statement that said its exit followed Gazprom’s announcement last month of its final concept for the project. Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the company was not commenting. read more

APRIL 10, 2019 / 1:28 PM

* Shell exits Baltic LNG project

* Remains a shareholder in Gazprom-led Sakhalin-2 (Adds details, context)

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Shadia Nasralla

ST PETERSBURG/LONDON, Russia, April 10 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has decided to exit a Baltic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project led by Russian state gas major Gazprom on the Russian Baltic coast.

The development comes as Western firms struggle to expand in Russia because of pressure from sanctions imposed by the United States, while for Gazprom it could mean limited access to Shell’s technology as well as the need to fund the project without the help of the Anglo-Dutch major. read more