Nord Stream gas pipeline is connected to the OPAL in Germany

The last seam finally interconnects the gas pipeline Nord Stream from Siberia and the interconnecting European  gas pipeline  OPAL, the final weld was made on the receiving terminal in the coastal Lubmin town (Germany), German Wintershall reported.

 Thus, almost everything is ready to directly link the largest gas fields in Siberia to European consumers.

 The pipeline system is fully prepared for further work, and for the launch of Nord stream as it was scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter of 2011,said the head of the project in  Nord Stream AG by the German partner Georg Nowak.  He also said that the pipelinto that runs under the Baltic Sea, has already been tested under pressure and then drained and dried.

In early September pipeline  will be filled with nitrogen to secure natural gas reception.  The next stage of the project is the launch of Nord Stream.

 Director General of OPAL NEL Transport B. Vogel also confirmed the readiness of the connecting European gas pipeline  OPAL for taking Russian gas.  Construction of the gas pipeline OPAL, a joint project of Wingas (80%) and E. ON Ruhrgas AG (20%), by which Russian gas will enter the European market, was completed a month ago.  The pipeline is filled with gas and ready for shipping of Russian oil from the Nord Stream in the Czech Republic.

 The total investment of  the participants of Nord Stream and  only the OPAL project in Lubmin amounted to about 100 million euros.

 Chairman of the Wingas Gerhard Koenig stressed that Europe and Russia are entering a new phase of energy cooperation.

Natural gas, combined with renewable sources of energy is the future of reliable energy, but due to the implementation of infrastructure projects such as"Nord Stream  and OPAL , first major gas field in Siberia will be directly linked to the European market, he added.

 Last week, they finished welding the latter , the so-called "golden"  seam of the first branch of the pipeline Nord stream.  "Gold"  seam connected the coastal area of the branch on the Russian shore in the Bay Portovaya with the sea section, passing under the Baltic Sea to the German coast.

 Nord Stream is a fundamentally a new route for Russian gas exports to Europe.  The gas pipeline is 1.22 thousands of kilometers long and runs across the Baltic Sea from Russia (Vyborg) to Germany (Greifswald).  Launching the first phase of the pipeline with the capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year is scheduled for October 2011.  Completion of the second branch is scheduled in autumn 2012 will increase the capacity of Nord Stream to 55 billion cubic meters a year.  Gazprom"(GAZP) has signed a long-term gas supply contracts on Nord Stream to customers in several EU countries, including Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.

 In July, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not rule out  the construction of the third stage of Nord stream.  Gazprom confirmed that the construction of the third stage of the pipeline is considered, but additional details were not reported.  In late June, the chairman of the board of Gazprom A. Miller said that the current situation in the European gas market may require additional new capacity in the medium term for Russian gas supplies, in addition to already planned Nord Stream and South Stream.

 Currently, the shareholders of Nord Stream  are Gazprom, Germany's Wintershall Holding and E. ON Ruhrgas, GDF Suez and French Netherlands Gasunie.  Shares of the shareholders in the company-operator of the project Nord Stream AG are as follows: Gazprom - 51%, Wintershall Holding and E. ON Ruhrgas - by 15,5%, Gasunie and GDF Suez - to 9%.

Source: http://www.oilru.com/news/273889/

Translated by: Anastasia Edrenkina