U.S. sanctions… forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline

By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg: Oct. 8, 2020 A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. As the project neared completion, U.S. sanctions and calls for European restrictions, as well as a Polish move to fine Russia’s Gazprom PJSC on antitrust grounds, have left the construction in limbo and ratcheted up political tensions.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Gazprom owns the joint Russian-European venture, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.2 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels. The pipeline operator is looking for solutions to lay the remaining 6% of the pipe, which includes construction work in Denmark’s waters. read more

Allseas Litigation: Top lawyer Mike Stubbs accused of relaying offer of £1m ‘bribe’ to police, say court transcripts

By John Donovan

Shell contractor, Allseas, is a key player in a continuing story of mystery and intrigue surrounding criminal court proceedings.

Top lawyer Mike Stubbs acted for Allseas at the time when, according to court transcripts, he allegedly relayed a £1m bribe offer to UK police detectives.

Victims of £73 m fraud

In 2011, Allseas invested £73 million with investors led by a conman claiming to have links to the Vatican and Spanish nobility. More information can be found in articles such as the June 2018 FT story: “The ship tycoon, the con men and a €100m scam”. read more

(Shell may have to write off Nord Stream 2 investment if project collapses)

Merkel Scrapping Nord Stream Would Unravel German Gas Strategy

Brian Parkin, Andrew Noël and Richard Weiss: Bloomberg: September 12, 2020

(Bloomberg) — As Angela Merkel weighs up the arguments for scrapping a Russian pipeline project, a cornerstone of the German chancellor’s carefully crafted energy strategy is at stake.

Merkel is coming under increasing pressure to ditch the Nord Stream 2 pipeline after the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Members of her own party have questioned the project and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the decision should be a “no brainer.” read more

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg September 4, 2020 at 3:26 p.m. GMT+1

A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. As the project neared completion, U.S. sanctions and calls for European restrictions have left the construction in limbo as political tensions with Moscow mounted.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the joint Russian-European venture, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.2 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels. The pipeline operator is looking for solutions to lay the remaining 6% of the pipe, which includes construction work in Denmark’s waters. read more

Navalny Poisoning Raises Pressure on Merkel to Cancel Russian Pipeline

Evidence that the Russian opposition leader was attacked with a military-grade nerve agent has placed new pressures on the German chancellor.

By Steven Erlanger and Melissa Eddy: Published Sept. 3, 2020 Updated Sept. 4, 2020, 1:34 a.m. ET 

BRUSSELS — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has long defended her decision to go ahead with an $11 billion Russian gas pipeline, sticking to her position that politics and business should remain separate.

But that approach came under intense pressure Thursday, with a Russian dissident in a German hospital, poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent that is held closely by the Russian military. Even some members of her own party insisted that the chancellor should respond by canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

The 764-mile pair of pipelines under the Baltic Sea is being built by a consortium led by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which owns it, and would double the capacity for natural gas to flow directly from Russia to Germany. It has been criticized by many in Europe and the United States for increasing Russian leverage on Germany and helping to line the pockets of the Russian state.

But the pipeline is 94 percent completed, and Ms. Merkel defended the need to finish it as recently as last Friday. At that point, Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was already in Berlin for treatment of a poisoning in Russia, although the use of the nerve agent, Novichok, had not yet been publicly confirmed.

But with the identification of Novichok as the poison, the debate on the pipeline has now been reopened.

For a long time, Ms. Merkel has advocated trade and diplomatic engagement with both Russia and China despite their internal repressions and external aggressiveness. Her argument has been that Russia is too close to Europe, and China too economically powerful, to isolate either of them, and that trade provides leverage on them that sanctions do not.

It is getting harder for her to have it both ways. German foreign policy has been notably more assertive to Russia after the country seized Crimea and shot down a Malaysian airliner, and to China after its increasing boldness and repression at home and abroad under its leader, Xi Jinping.

And so Nord Stream 2, originally promoted by her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, is becoming harder to defend, given that its owner, Gazprom, is controlled by the Kremlin of President Vladimir V. Putin. More Germans are asking how she — and many other European leaders — can portray Russia as a rogue nation in one breath and a legitimate commercial partner in the next?

On Thursday, Norbert Röttgen, a senior member of the chancellor’s conservative party and the head of the foreign affairs committee in Parliament, who has long been critical of Nord Stream 2, called for Germany to respond to the poisoning with tough measures that could include the pipeline and Russia’s sales of natural gas. read more

Shell may have to write off Nord Stream 2 investment if project collapses

Calls mount for Germany to rethink Nord Stream 2 pipeline after Navalny poisoning

Madeline Chambers: SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced growing pressure on Thursday to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Germany, after she said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-style nerve agent.

Merkel said on Wednesday that Navalny, who is being treated in a Berlin hospital, was the victim of a murder attempt using the nerve agent Novichok, and demanded an explanation by Russia.

Moscow has denied involvement in the incident and the Russian foreign ministry said Germany’s assertion was not backed by evidence.

Western countries have condemned the attack on Navalny and many German politicians want a tough response. read more

By Stanley Reed and Lara Jakes: July 24, 2020, 4:38 a.m. ET

A hulking Russian pipe-laying vessel called the Akademik Cherskiy can be seen off Germany’s Baltic coast these days, marine tracking sites say, apparently waiting for the chance to complete the final stretches of a massive undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas directly to Germany from Russia.

The Trump administration, though, is trying to keep the pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2, on ice. Last week, the State Department moved to potentially impose economic penalties on investors and other business participants in the project, an expansion of existing sanctions. read more

Pompeo Warns Energy Majors Over New Russian Gas Pipelines

“Get out now or risk the consequences,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said at the State Department on Wednesday.

Maarten Wetselaar, Klaus Schaefer, Mario Mehren, Alexey Miller, Gerhard Schroeder, Isabelle Kocher, Gerard Mestrallet, Rainer Seele, and Matthias Warnig after signing of financing agreements for Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on April 24, 2017

By Nick Wadhams Lars Paulsson Jul 15 2020, 8:16 PM Jul 16 2020, 10:19 PM

(Bloomberg)— The U.S. is moving toward sanctions against energy companies involved in Russian pipelines to Europe and Turkey, escalating a threat to punish allies for pursuing projects that the U.S. argues will only benefit Russia.

As Europe’s domestic gas supplies decline, the region is becoming more dependent on imported fuel. The almost 10 billion-euro ($11 billion) Nord Stream 2 project from Russia to Germany is being financed by companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG and France’s Engie SA. Allseas Group SA is helping to expand the Turk Stream link. read more

By Timothy Gardner and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday warned investors in two Russian natural gas pipeline projects that they could face sanctions as the Trump administration seeks to curb the Kremlin’s economic leverage over Europe and Turkey.

Pompeo told a news conference that European investors in the Nordstream 2 and a branch of the Turkstream pipelines could be “put at risk” of U.S. sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017. The pipelines will carry gas from Russia to Europe and Turkey. read more

Implications Seen for U.S. LNG as Nord Stream 2 Nears Finish Line

BY RON NISSIMOV July 10, 2020

Russia will likely complete by next year the undersea Nord Stream 2 (NS2) natural gas pipeline to Germany despite ongoing U.S. efforts to scuttle the $11 billion project, analysts said.

The start-up of the 5.3 Bcf/d NS2 could curb a potential recovery of U.S. LNG exports even if the Covid-19 pandemic recedes next year, said BTU Analytics LLC energy analyst Connor McLean.

“If Nord Stream 2 comes online as expected, the influx of supply into Europe could place further pressure on a U.S. LNG recovery in 2021,” McLean said in a recent post on the firm’s website.

To combat the Russian plan, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced a bill to sanction any entity that aids in completion of the line. That could include companies that have extensive operations in the U.S., such as Royal Dutch Shell plc, Total SA, Engie and OMV, which have stakes in parts of NS2, and Norwegian maritime classification society DNV. read more

Shell Russia head: We will not be put away by uncertainty

Shell Russia’s Chairman Cederic Cremers has spoken to TASS about oil prices, Nord Stream 2 and new projects

– Oil producers have faced an unprecedented drop in demand this year. Do you think, Mr. Cremers, this can accelerate energy transition and decarbonization process and make an oil peak consumption closer?

– I think that the crisis and the pandemic of COVID-19 clearly put a lot of pressure on our industry – energy demand has dropped, and the impact on the economies around the globe is very real. I do think this volatile market will be with us for a while. We do not expect that there will be a recovery in oil prices or the demand of the products in the medium term. However, we do expect that it will recover in a longer period. read more

The World’s Most Controversial Gas Pipeline Is Nearing Its Endgame

The almost 10 billion-euro ($11 billion) project is being financed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc… and…

Bloomberg News: Jonathan Tirone: May 13, 2020: 5:29 AM EDT: Last Updated May 13, 2020

(Bloomberg) — Construction of the world’s most controversial natural gas pipeline is about to enter the endgame of an energy dispute that’s pitted the U.S. against Russia and some of its closest trans-Atlantic allies, satellite images show.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built to increase the flow of Russian gas into Europe’s biggest economy, was thwarted five months ago after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions that forced workers to retreat. Now, after a three-month voyage circumnavigating the globe, the Akademik Cherskiy, the Russian pipe-laying vessel that’s a prime candidate to finish the project, has anchored off the German port where the remaining pipeline sections are waiting to be installed. read more

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

Stuart Elliott: 30 JAN 2020

London — Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said Thursday the company was “not spending enough” on its new energies business, particularly in electricity.

Speaking to journalists following the release of Q4 earnings, van Beurden said he “desperately” wanted to grow the business more quickly, but it would remain disciplined in its spending.

Shell created its new energies division — which brings together assets in electricity supply and generation, electric vehicle charging, and other new fuels such as hydrogen and biofuels — in 2016. read more

2 Jan 2020

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a European affair, and the US must not intervene with this initiative, said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Last week, US President Donald Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes penalties for Nord Stream 2. Allseas’s Swiss company stopped digging the pipes under the pressure of U.S. restrictions.

“If Nord Stream 2 had reached the territories of the U.S. somehow, I would have appreciated the debate of the possible involvement of Washington in these issues. No one has to deal with that, except the nations involved in the project because of geographical and financial aspects, “Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 channel. read more