Germany should “speed up” the process of issuing certification for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to avoid further surge in fuel prices, The Le Monde has cited Jeremy Weir, chief executive of the Swiss multinational commodity trading company Trafigura.
Weir also expressed concern over potential “blackouts in Europe” due to the possibility of a “cold winter" on the continent.
FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, near the town of Kingisepp, Leningrad region, Russia, June 5, 2019
© REUTERS / Anton Vaganov
The French newspaper noted in this vein that Germany's decision to suspend the certification of Nord Stream 2 took place “at a critical time when several factors came together: reserves are unusually small, there are infrastructure failures, winds are too weak for wind turbines to work, and there are increasing methane consumption in Germany and the UK”.
In addition, increased demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia has led to higher energy prices in Europe, according to The Le Monde.
This comes a few days after the German energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur suspended the certification of the Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“Following a thorough examination of the documentation, the Bundesnetzagentur concluded that it would only be possible to certify an operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if that operator was organised in a legal form under German law”, the regulator said, adding that the certification process will resume when the parent company will transfer capital and personnel to a German subsidiary.
Member of the Bundestag Steffen Kotre from the Alternative for Germany party commented on the news by telling Sputnik that he expects the commissioning of Nord Stream 2 in April 2022 at the earliest.
“I don’t think that the project can be stopped now, that the Federal Network Agency will be able to stop the certification of Nord Stream 2, but the European Commission will most likely also try to delay the process for its part. I do not expect the launch of Nord Stream 2 until next year, perhaps in April or May”, Kotre asserted.
The remarks followed Russian President Vladimir Putin saying last month that Russia could start delivering natural gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as soon as Moscow gets the green light from Berlin.
“If the German regulator hands its clearance for supplies tomorrow, deliveries of 17.5 billion cubic metres [of gas] will start the day after tomorrow”, Putin emphasised.
A joint venture by Russia's Gazprom and four Western European energy companies, Nord Stream 2 is a 1,230-km twin gas pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to complement the existing Nord Stream 1 network.
The already completed network is capable of transporting up to 1.9 trillion cubic feet (55 billion cubic metres) of gas per year from Russia to Europe, thus doubling Nord Stream's capacity.