Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG), Poland’s state-owned oil and gas company, and its German subsidiary have been allowed participation in the certification proceedings for the US$11.2bn Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
This project consists of a 1,230km export gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea, with a capacity to carry 55bcm of gas once it becomes operational.
Earlier this month, Gazprom completed the construction of the Nord Stream 2 subsea pipeline, which has the capacity to almost double the gas exports to Europe through the Baltic Sea.
This granting of participation rights to Poland by the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) is significant as Ukraine and Poland have been opposing the pipeline project.
Poland worries that the project will threaten the security of European countries, as the natural gas pipeline project does not meet the certification requirements of the Independent Transmission Operator (ITO) preferential model, while Ukraine expects to lose US$3bn a year from its gas transit fees.
To ease these worries, the US and Germany negotiated a truce deal on the dispute over the pipeline, with Berlin making a promise to impose sanctions on Russia if Moscow threatens the energy security of its neighbours.
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