Nord Stream 2 to the Rescue: Europe Needs Project as It's Running Out of Own Gas

The construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will work in favor of the European gas market given shrinking domestic gas sources including in the North Sea and the United Kingdom, spokesperson for the German energy company Uniper told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Russia’s Gazprom said it had delivered a record volume of 160 million cubic meters of natural gas via the Nord Stream pipeline on New Year’s Day, which showed the pipeline’s high demand on the European market and "the importance and relevance of constructing Nord Stream 2."

"We actually believe that Nord Stream 2 will benefit the gas market since we see that European domestic gas sources – including those in UK and North Sea – will diminish over time and demand in Europe will increase," Georg Oppermann said.

The spokesperson added that the Nord Stream 2 was one of means to diversify gas sourcing and achieve a secure gas supply in Europe in the future, "be it by means of pipeline gas from Russia or other countries or by liquefied natural gas deliveries from countries worldwide."

Russia’s Gazprom, together with partner European energy firms including Uniper, is currently engaged in constructing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year to the European Union across the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. The pipeline is planned for 2018.

A number of EU countries expressed their support for the Nord Stream 2, in particular, Austria and Germany, however some EU member states, such as Poland and Lithuania, are opposed to the gas pipeline due to concerns over increased energy dependence on Russia.

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