US still plans new sanctions against Nord Stream-2 pipeline

HOUSTON, Mar 12 (PRIME) -- Washington is still considering introduction of additional sanctions against construction of Russia’s Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters late on Monday.

“I think those issues are still on the table,” he said.

The U.S. does not believe that it is an economic, but a political project, he added.

Piotr Naimski, a Polish government official in charge of strategic energy infrastructure, told reporters following his meeting with Perry that Poland thought that the pipeline will ensure dominance of gas giant Gazprom on the European market, and that the project would hurt interests of the Western allies.

But Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told PRIME that the pipeline should be an issue for Russia and other players of the region to solve.

“The Nord Stream-2 is an obvious issue of Russia and other countries of the region. It is for them to decide what it brings in from the point of view of economic growth, consumption structure, diversification, and security of energy supplies,” he said.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and Engie.

Participants of the project and officials from Russia and Europe repeatedly said that the project is purely commercial.

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