The U.S. has set its sights on Europe's gas market that is currently dominated by Russia, experts said Thursday.
Thanks to the U.S. shale gas boom, the U.S. is orchestrating plans to move in on the European gas market to sell its rising LNG production, according to Prof. Dr. Volkan Ediger, Director of Center for Energy and Sustainable Development (CESD) from Kadir Has University.
With the U.S.' sanctions threat that its administration made against European firms involved in Russian gas projects, especially the Nord Stream II gas pipeline project to carry gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, it looks as if a Sword of Damocles, or pending doom, is looming over the project.
In August, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law imposing sanctions comprising potential measures against companies who give financial or technological support to Russian energy export pipelines.
'Energy diplomacy and statements of U.S. officials indicate that the U.S. will do everything to reduce the share of Russian gas in Europe and sell more U.S. LNG,' Ediger argued.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State John McCarrick stated on Wed. Nov. 29 that Washington expected that the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream II gas pipeline to Germany would not go ahead, adding that if Russia's gas and energy giant, Gazprom, leads and reaches a deal with European backers, those European companies could face U.S. sanctions.
The Nord Stream II plans to transfer 55 billion cubic meters of capacity to Europe per year to provide sufficient gas flow from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea to supply 26 million households in the region.
Washington has several aims in imposing sanctions, Volkan Ozdemir, head of the Institute for Energy Markets and Policies says. He maintained that killing the Nord Stream II is such an aim, along with eliminating competition from Russia, creating a gas market for its LNG, exerting control over European firms and indirectly helping Ukraine.
- U.S. sanctions cannot impact TurkStream project
Furthermore, he affirmed that the TurkStream pipeline project planned by Russia to deliver gas to Turkey, is also the object of the U.S. administration's opposition, but cannot be subjected to sanctions.
'The U.S. is not happy with the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project of course, but the TurkStream's intergovernmental agreement [between Turkey and Russia] had been signed before the U.S. bill came into force. In this respect, the Nord Stream II and the TurkStream are different. I do not think that sanctions can be applied to the TurkStream,' he said.
This pressure on the realization of the Nord Stream II may prompt Russia to focus more on the TurkStream, Ozdemir said.
The TurkStream will send Russian gas to Turkey with the first of its two lines while the second line of the project will carry Russian gas to southern and southeastern Europe.
By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr