Nord Stream 2 Pipeline:
The US, which had previously imposed sanctions to prevent the completion of a major new gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, has now signalled its approval for the project.
- The US and Germany reached a deal on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline – which significantly increases Europe’s energy dependence on Russia– under which Berlin will respond to stop Moscow should the latter use the strategically critical gas system as political leverage.
- In 2015, the Russian energy major Gazprom and five other European firms decided to build Nord Stream 2, valued at around $11 billion.
- The 1,200-km pipeline will run from Ust-Luga in Russia to Greifswald in Germany through the Baltic Sea, and will carry 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
- The under-construction pipeline will run along with the already completed Nord Stream 1 system, and the two together will supply an aggregate of 110 billion cubic metres of gas to Germany per year.
- The pipeline falls in the territory of EU members Germany and Denmark, and is about 98% complete.