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

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

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

By Rachita Prasad: ET Bureau: Updated: Jan 09, 2019, 03.01 PM IST Royal Dutch Shell has completed the acquisition of Gujarat-based Hazira LNG and Port Ventures from French energy major Total Gaz Electricité Holdings, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

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

Shell celebrates 40 years of deep-water innovation: CISION: 15 Oct 2018

Gazprom and Shell discuss next steps in Baltic LNG project: LNG INDUSTRY: 15 Oct 2018

Shell reaches milestone on plastics plant in Northeast, potentially a Gulf competitor: Houston Chronicle: 14 Oct 2018

Mr Trump last year signed a law giving him the right to impose sanctions on companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Royal Dutch Shell, BASF’s Wintershall unit, Uniper, OMV and Engie have agreed to provide Russia’s Gazprom with financing for the €9.5bn pipeline and could be at risk of penalties.

Elena Mazneva, Margaret Talev and Naureen S Malik: 18 July 2018

US President Donald Trump eased his tone about a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany after a one-on-one meeting with President Vladimir Putin, shifting from the harsh criticism of Germany he’d levied in Europe last week. “We are going to be selling LNG and will have to be competing with the pipeline and I think we’ll compete successfully, although there is a little advantage locationally” because Russia is closer to buyers in Europe, Mr Trump told reporters at a news conference with Mr Putin after their meeting in Helsinki on Monday. FULL ARTICLE read more

Jul. 12, 2018 11:42 AM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

The U.S. warns Western companies invested in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany that they are at risk of sanctions.

The $11B project, led by Gazprom (OTCPK:OGZPY), would double capacity of the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing traditional routes through Ukraine.

Pres. Trump sharply criticized Germany yesterday for being a “captive” of Russia because of its support for the pipeline.

A German business group says it is not up to the U.S. to dictate how German companies do business, that the country’s energy partnership with Russia had spanned decades with mutual benefits, and that gas imports from Russia are a competitively priced and reliable energy source.

Germany’s Uniper (OTC:UNPRF) and BASF’s (OTCQX:BASFY) Wintershall are among western partners involved in the project, as well as Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY) and OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF).

Now read: Gazprom: From Russia With Love

read more

By Elena Mazneva and Laurence Arnold: 11 July 2018

A planned natural-gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is the latest point of friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a summit meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, Trump said the pipeline risks making Germany “a captive of Russia.” He’s not the first American leader to criticize the pipeline project, and the U.S. isn’t alone in its disapproval. FULL ARTICLE

Jun. 29, 2018 5:15 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Germany has been assured by the U.S. that any sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe, says a spokesperson for Germany’s economy ministry.

The U.S. embassy in Berlin says there has been no change in policy, Reuters reports.

The Nord Stream 2 consortium, consisting of Russia’s Gazprom (OTCPK:OGZPY) and five European companies – Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), BASF’s (OTCQX:BASFY) Wintershall, Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY), OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) and Uniper (OTC:UNPPY) – last month started preparatory work in the Greifswald bay off Germany’s Baltic coast on a new twin pipeline that will double Russia’s export capacity of 55B cm to Germany.

Separately, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller says the company can set a new gas export record of nearly 200B cm this year, up nearly 3% Y/Y, breaking last year’s record volume of 194.4B cm of gas to Europe and Turkey.

read more