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

BY RON NISSIMOV July 10, 2020

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

Senators to push sanctions bill on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is set to introduce legislation that would expand sanctions against Gazprom’s (OTCPK:OGZPY) Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany by targeting insurance companies that work with Russian vessels on completion of the project.

Senator Ted Cruz, one of the sponsors of the legislation, says the pipeline poses “a critical threat to America’s national security and must not be completed.”

The bill would expand sanctions to companies that provide “underwriting services or insurance or reinsurance” for vessels working on the pipeline as well as those that provide “services or facilities for technology upgrades or installation of welding equipment for, or retrofitting or tethering” of vessels. read more

UPDATE 1-U.S. senators weigh additional sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2

WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT/MOSCOW, May 28 (Reuters) – Two U.S. senators are considering drafting further sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Moscow goes ahead and finishes laying pipes, in another blow to a project which has already faced delays.

U.S. sanctions legislation originally sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, in December halted work by Swiss-Dutch company Allseas on the pipeline that aims to boost Russia’s gas exports under the Baltic Sea to Germany. read more

APRIL 13, 2020 / 9.09 PM

MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) – International energy major Shell has decided not to complete a deal on a Russian Arctic oil joint venture, Meretoyakha Neftegaz, it was expected to enter with Gazprom Neft, because of some “external” factors.

Total resources at fields of Meretoyakha Neftegaz were valued by Gazprom Neft at 1.1 billion tonnes (over 8 billion barrels of oil).

The decision has been taken against the background of falling global investments into energy projects over weak oil and gas demand and prices amid the global economic downturn, overproduction and the spread of the coronavirus. read more

Bloomberg News

(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

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

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

By Dominic Walsh

Ben van Beurden has marked five years as chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell by giving a “wide-ranging interview” on climate change, his leadership style and “Shell’s biggest financial transformation” — an interview given to, erm, Royal Dutch Shell’s website. But rest assured, the oil group’s in-house journalists weren’t letting their boss off lightly. The transcript published yesterday features such hard-hitting questions as: “Who do you turn to for advice and support?” (answer: his wife, Stacey); “What are you most proud of when you look back at 2018?”; and “Why is trust so important for Shell?” A real zinger, that one.

SOURCE

Shell buys out Total’s 26% stake in Hazira LNG and Port

Shell Gas, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, acquired 26% equity interest in the Hazira LNG and Port from Total, to complete the acquisition. We did not disclose the financial consideration for the deal.

“The move allows Shell to build an integrated gas value chain: supply from its global LNG portfolio, regasification at the Hazira facility, and downstream customer sales. It further enables Shell to contribute towards India’s long-term need for more and cleaner energy solutions,” Shell said in the statement. read more