Wintershall Dea is one of five European energy companies -- along with France's Engie, Austria 's OMV, Anglo-Dutch Shell and Germany's Uniper -- that have co-financed the project, each committing to invest Eur950 million.

Iran's oil exports are already under intense US sanctions pressure, and recent moves by the Trump administration have been seen as an attempt to harden its policy ahead of a Joe Biden White House.

Gazprom and Germany say Nord Stream 2 is purely a commercial project. Gas demand in Germany is growing as it cuts dependence on nuclear and coal power.

Iran’s oil exports have shrunk from more than 2.5 million bpd since 2018,

UOKiK on Oct. 7 imposed a fine of more than Zloty 29 billion ($7.62 billion, Eur6.48 billion) on Russian gas giant Gazprom for building Nord Stream 2 without its approval, as well as a fine totaling Zloty 234 million on five European companies that helped finance the project.

The almost complete Nord Stream 2 was meant to come online at the end of 2019, but the threat of US sanctions against companies working on laying the pipeline saw main contractor Allseas halt work in December last year.

Iran sanctions relief under a change in US president represents the biggest supply and price impact for global oil markets

The EU considers the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures unlawful and contrary to international law.

A little over 150 km of Nord Stream 2 remains to be laid in Danish and German waters, but with the political debate becoming ever more frenzied, it remains unclear how and when the pipeline will be completed.

A little over 150 km of Nord Stream 2 remains to be laid in Danish and German waters after an initial threat of US sanctions last December forced principal pipe-layer Allseas to halt work.

The Danish Energy Agency granted the permit on Thursday almost a year after the application was submitted.

Nord Stream 2 would double the capacity of the gas corridor via the Baltic Sea to Germany to 110 Bcm/year and would reduce the need for Russia to use Ukraine as a transit country for gas supply to Europe.

The latest IAEA annual projections show that nuclear power will continue to play a key role in the world’s low-carbon energy mix, with global nuclear electrical capacity seen nearly doubling by 2050 in our high case scenario. Climate change mitigation remains a key potential driver for maintaining and expanding the use of nuclear power.

“The Baltic Sea pipeline is above all in the interests of Germany and western Europe as we want to achieve the energy transformation,”

Schwesig said she agreed that Russia had to explain the poisoning, but said the crime "should not be used to challenge Nord Stream 2."