U.S. - NORD STREAM SANCTIONS

OGJ - The European Union should use tools it has already instead of calling for US sanctions to resist the Russian-backed 746-mile Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, one speaker suggested at a June 25 Atlantic Council discussion about Central and Eastern Europe's 21st Century energy needs.

Sandra Oudkirk, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the US Department of State, confirmed that the Trump administration has received several requests to sanction the proposed Gazprom-sponsored pipeline that would extend from Russia beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany.

"But we believe there are still significant tools within the EU which can be used and should be considered," Oudkirk said. "I think people ask for US sanctions because they think Nord Stream 2 is a done deal. It's not. There are still levers available to the EU."

Completing more reversible pipeline interconnections within Europe also is important, Oudkirk and other speakers emphasized. "Our first goal is to finish the North-South Corridor," said Pal Sagvari, Hungary's ambassador at large for energy security. "The Krk Island LNG terminal is back on track and negotiations are going well. It's not commercially viable yet but has strong national support."

The Central European Energy Union has identified projects to support that would ensure that assets and supplies would not be stranded, Sagvari said.

Ambassador Dusan Matuley, director general for economic cooperation in the Slovak Republic's Foreign and European Affairs Ministry, said his country also wants to be a constructive player in the North-South Gas Corridor connecting an LNG terminal in Poland; the Baltic Pipeline through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia; and the proposed Krk Island LNG terminal in Croatia.

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Earlier: 

2018, June, 8, 13:10:00 ШВЕЦИЯ РАЗРЕШИЛА "СЕВЕРНЫЙ ПОТОК-2" ГАЗПРОМ - компания Nord Stream 2 AG получила разрешение на строительство и эксплуатацию газопровода «Северный поток — 2» в шведской исключительной экономической зоне (ИЭЗ). Разрешение Правительства на участок протяженностью приблизительно 510 км в шведской ИЭЗ было выдано Министерством по предпринимательству и инновациям, которое отвечает за рассмотрение заявки. Газопровод «Северный поток — 2» протяженностью около 1230 км будет построен для транспортировки природного газа из России в ЕС через Балтийское море.

2018, May, 18, 08:55:00 U.S. - RUSSIA PIPELINE SANCTIONS REUTERS - Washington was focused on using diplomatic means to halt Nord Stream 2, one of several Russian projects to export gas to western Europe via routes avoiding Ukraine, with which Moscow is involved in a series of disputes.

2018, May, 18, 08:50:00 NORD STREAM TO GERMANY REUTERS - A consortium of western companies and Russia’s Gazprom that is due to build the controversial subsea Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany said on Tuesday it was starting preparatory work in the Greifswald bay off Germany’s Baltic coast.

2018, April, 13, 17:50:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR EUROPE ANEW PLATTS - "It cannot be the case that Nord Steam 2 means that Ukraine no longer has any significance in transiting [Russian] gas," Merkel said after a meeting with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

2018, April, 13, 17:45:00 FINLAND'S GAS PERMITS GAZPROM - Nord Stream 2 AG received the second permit required for the construction and operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), thereby completing the permitting procedure in Finland. Русский | English

2018, March, 14, 11:35:00 NORD STREAM NIGHTMARES U.S. OGJ - Sandra Oudkirk, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources, said Nord Stream 2 matters to the US because it would cement a transportation system in place that could perpetuate dependence on Russian gas for some key US allies. “It would not increase the amount of gas coming into Europe, only replace volumes that now are being transported through Ukraine,” she said.

2018, January, 31, 11:05:00 U.S. - RUSSIA SANCTIONS ANEW REUTERS - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Warsaw on Saturday that the United States sees Nord Stream 2 as a threat to Europe’s energy security.