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Moscow (AFP) Feb 12, 2010 Russia scored a victory Friday in its push to strengthen its position as the EU's key energy supplier as Finland gave final approval to construction of a Moscow-backed pipeline under the Baltic Sea. The green light from a Finnish regional authority cleared the way for construction of Nord Stream, a undersea pipeline that Moscow wants to build in order to reduce its dependence on transit through neighbouring Ukraine. "The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland granted Nord Stream AG the permit to build its gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through Finland's Exclusive Economic Zone," the agency said in a statement. The Finnish government, as had those of other countries affected by Nord Stream, had already given the green light to the pipeline project, but it still needed to be approved by the environment division of the Finnish regional authority. "This is an important decision not only for European energy security, but also for the environment," Nord Stream spokesman Sebastian Sass said, adding that the Finnish decision was based on "very tough environmental scrutiny." Construction of the 7.4-billion-euro (10.2-billion-dollar) pipeline will start in April 2010 and the first gas will start flowing in late 2011, the Nord Stream consortium said in a statement. "We are approaching the final stages of implementing this project," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday, quoted by the Interfax news agency. He added that it would start transporting gas in September 2011. The 1,220-kilometre (760-mile) pipeline will link the Russian city of Vyborg and Greifswald in Germany, running under the Baltic Sea and passing through Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish and German waters. The consortium building the pipeline is led by Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom and also includes Germany's E.On Ruhrgas and BASF-Wintershall and the Netherlands' Gasunie. When completed in 2012, Nord Stream will be able to transport 55 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, according to the consortium. Some 375 kilometres of pipeline are expected to go through Finland's economic zone of the Baltic. A quarter of the gas consumed in the European Union comes from Russia, which has been eager to diversify its export routes following a series of bitter disputes with its neighbour Ukraine. Currently around 80 percent of Russian gas exports to the EU pass through Ukraine. A payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev disrupted supplies to more than a dozen EU countries in January 2009.
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Venezuela awards Orinoco Belt blocksCaracas, Venezuela (UPI) Feb 12, 2009 Venezuela on Wednesday awarded oil blocks in its massive Orinoco Belt to two groups led by Chevron and Spain's Repsol YPF, signaling a turnaround by President Hugo Chavez, who nationalized the energy sector in 2007. It was the first oil auction since Chavez took office 11 years ago. Chevron, Mitsubishi Corp., Inpex Corp. and Suelopetrol CA will take a combined 40 percent stake in ... read more |
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