Swedish approval for Russian pipe line

Sweden became the second country to grant final approval for OAO Gazprom’s Nord Stream AG natural- gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, ending almost two years of Swedish opposition and wrangling over the energy project.
The country approved the 506-kilometer (314-mile) Swedish stretch of the 1,220-kilometer link that will pump gas from Russia to Germany, Zug, Switzerland-based Nord Stream and the government in Stockholm said today.
Opposition to the project was widespread in Sweden, where the public, politicians, media and fishermen questioned its impact on fish breeding grounds and the environmental risks of laying pipes on a seabed littered with mines and chemical weapons dumped during two world wars. Russia’s motives behind the project were also questioned, including concerns that pipeline facilities may be used for espionage.
“The government has made tough demands to secure that the sensitive environment in the Baltic Sea isn’t jeopardized,” Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said today.
Denmark gave permission on Oct. 20 and Germany, Russia and Finland also have to give a go-ahead for the project on which construction is planned to start early next year. The venture, which also includes BASF SE’s Wintershall Holding AG and E.ON Ruhrgas AG, seeks to transport 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year when completed in 2012 and is designed to ease supplies from Russia to Western Europe by avoiding Ukraine.

All Permits
“Nord Stream is aiming to obtain all required permits by the end of 2009,” the company said today.
Sweden got the formal application in December 2007 and two months later requested more information about the environmental impact and asked the company to evaluate alternative routes. Nord Stream withdrew plans for a maintenance platform off the coast of the island of Gotland amid concern over Russian presence in Swedish territory.
“The starting point for the government’s decision is that all states has a right to put pipes in international waters and on a coastal state’s continental shelf,” Sweden said. “The government’s room for maneuver has therefore been significantly more limited than it’s in evaluations of applications regarding Swedish territorial waters or projects in Sweden.”
Nord Stream today cleared the second of three steps in the Finnish permitting process for the gas pipelines after that country’s government said the company may use its economic zone in the Baltic Sea. The venture requires a separate permit in Finland in order to begin construction.

Russia threatening Ukrain to cut off gas.

Russian energy company Gazprom on Saturday threatened to cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine starting January 1 unless Ukraine pays $2.4 billion of debt and finalizes new contracts for future deliveries.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, quoted by the Interfax News Agency, dismissed arguments from Kiev that payments had been delayed due to the ongoing financial crisis.
"If the Ukrainian economy were really in a crisis, they would need less energy from us. There has been no sign of that," he said, adding that Ukraine cannot expect to receive billion-dollar bail- outs from the International Monetary Fund on the one hand and refuse to pay its debts to Russia on the other.
"We assume the problem will be resolved by the end of the year," said Kupriyanov. "Without contracts, Gazprom cannot deliver."
However, the Russian state company cannot enter into a new contract for future deliveries until all outstanding payments, plus late fees, are paid.
Russia cut off gas shipments to Ukraine three years ago after a political dispute. The cut-off was felt across Europe, since much of the gas western Europe imports from Russia flows through Ukraine. Kupriyanov said the company hopes to avoid "radical measures like a delivery blockage."
Moscow has argued that the regular gas disputes with Ukraine only highlight how important it is for Russia and western Europe to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.

Russian businessmen invade Alaska

Russian Gazprom's top managers have visited Alaska to look into projects in the US state, Gazprom said Tuesday.
The Russian gas giant could share its expertise in Alaska as climatic conditions at its traditional gas production regions in northern Russia are similar to those in Alaska, it said in a statement.A Gazprom delegation consisting of CEO Alexei Miller, his deputies Valery Golubev and Alexander Medvedev and others, met with representatives of Alaska's natural resources department, management of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, which represents local business interests, and ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva.

"Gazprom is ready to provide its abilities and experience. I think in the future we could conduct joint scientific research," Miller said in televised comments broadcast by Russian Vesti news channel from Anchorage, Alaska.Miller in June 2008 disclosed his company's interest in joining a planned project to build a gas pipeline from Alaska to the Lower 48 US states."Our interests are not limited to the European continent only...Gazprom has unique experience, knowledge and modern technology and is the leading company in transporting gas by pipeline.

That is why we are interested in such a large-scale project as construction of the gas pipeline from Alaska," he said in a speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Mulva said at the time that ConocoPhillips would study Gazprom's proposal.

There are two rival planned pipeline projects in Alaska, one led by TransCanada and the other by two North Slope producers, BP and ConocoPhillips.

Miller said Tuesday timeframes for both projects envisage implementation by around 2018. Gazprom said in a statement that besides the two planned pipeline projects in Alaska there should be opportunities considered for the construction of an LNG plant in Alaska.

Gazprom also suggested that a complex plan for gas production, transportation and supply system in Alaska would be "rational" for the development of the state's hydrocarbons. Gazprom is leading a similar unified plan in Russia, for the development of East Siberian and Far Eastern gas fields.