US 'Putting Pressure' on Europe to Block Russian Gas Deals

The United States has "exerted pressure" on European nations in a bid to prevent Gazprom from increasing its business activities on the continent and to promote its own energy cooperation with Europe, Die Presse reported.

The media outlet named Gazprom's talks with OMV, a Vienna-based oil and gas company, as a prime example.

The Russian energy giant and the Austrian firm plan to sign an asset swap deal by the end of the year. Under the agreement, Gazprom will receive a share of OMV's North Sea subsidiary, while OMV will receive a 25 percent stake in developing the Achimov deposits at the Urengoyskoye field in Russia.

Last week, OMV CEO Rainer Seele expressed hope that the deal would be finalized in the second half of 2016 and added that the approval process would then take up to two years.

The Norwegian authorities had no reservations about the arrangement in spring, but they have since expressed their concern over the deal. 

"Rumors have it that the Russian company will receive a quarter of OMV Norge at most," Die Presse observed. If so, OMV will have to pay the rest in cash that the Austrian energy company does not have readily available.

An unnamed top manager from the Russian-European gas business told the media outlet that OMV is not the problem. "OMV had stumbled into a geopolitical conflict" that "evokes memories of the Cold War," Die Presse quoted the source as saying.

Washington's interference is the main reason that Norway changed its mind, the media outlet noted.

The top manager also told Die Presse that the United States is trying to prevent Russia from expanding its gas business in Europe in general. Washington, the source said, has been "unprecedentedly active at all levels."

The planned Nord Stream 2 project

© Photo : downloads-free.ga

These activities have apparently affected the Nord Stream 2 project, one of Gazprom's key initiatives.

Last week, six companies, including Gazprom, Shell, OMV, Engie, Uniper and Wintershall, gave up their plans to create a consortium as part of the Nord Stream 2 project due to opposition from the Polish anti-monopoly regulator UOKiK.

"Washington's activities come at a time when the US completed its first gas delivery to Europe, entering competition for the market," Die Presse observed.