Germany’s dependency on Russian gas: one strong reason for its obstinate support for the Nuclear Deal with Iran
by Ezequiel Doiny
On August 31, 2018 Caroline Glick wrote on Breitbart “…In conversations with Breitbart News, senior U.S. officials attested that the EU’s policy on Iran is being steered by Germany…Which brings us to the question of what is motivating the German government to side with Iran against Washington.”
http://carolineglick.com/german-led-eu-sides-with-iran-against-america/
One of the factors motivating the German government to side with Iran against Washington is Germany’s dependency on Russian gas. Russia has an alliance with Iran which includes nuclear, oil and defense investments. In Syria, Russia’s cooperation with Iran includes interest in preserving the naval base in Tartus.
On July 11, 2018 CNBC reported “President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on German support for one of Europe’s most contentious energy developments Wednesday, saying Germany is “totally controlled” by Russia.
Speaking in Brussels, Belgium on the first leg of his European trip, the U.S. president said a flurry of oil and gas deals had given Moscow far too much influence over the continent’s largest economy. In particular, he singled out the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project as being especially “inappropriate.”
“Germany is totally controlled by Russia … They will be getting between 60 and 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline, and you tell me if that is appropriate because I think it’s not,” Trump said…”
Trump slams Germany at NATO summit: It’s ‘totally controlled by Russia’
Trump slams Germany at NATO summit: It’s ‘totally controlled by Russia’
Sam Meredith, Natasha Turak
President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on German support for one of Europe’s most contentious energy …
On February 11, 2019 Paul Gregory wrote in Forbes Magazine “Eastern and Central Europe and Ukraine strongly oppose the Russian-German project being built by Gazprom in conjunction with five European energy giants. Their objections: NS2 will bypass the Ukrainian and other pipelines that currently transport about half of Russian gas to Europe through their territories. NS2 will make Germany the hub of gas trade and distribution, and a new gas transport infrastructure must be built for economies east of Berlin…NS2 combined with Gazprom’s proposed Turk Stream pipeline would semi-circle Europe’s energy market from both the south and the east at a time when North Sea production is waning.
Moreover, at present prices, LNG is not competitive with piped-in Russian gas.
Merkel’s counterattack revealed her deep commitment to NS2.…”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2019/02/11/merkel-salvages-nord-stream-but-is-putin-losing-russias-gas-monopoly/#27d7f4cb6ac3
On July 19, 2018 Dave Keating wrote in Forbes “This week, Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom announced its latest export figures – and one number was of particular interest. The company revealed that Russia’s natural gas exports to Germany increased 12.2% (3.5 billion cubic meters – bcm) in the first half of 2018, compared to the first half of last year.
The increase follows record years for Gazprom exports to Germany in 2016 and 2017, with the country receiving 53.4 bcm last year alone. Germany is the largest buyer of Russian natural gas, and makes up 27.5% of Gazprom’s total exports in 2017.
The report makes for uncomfortable reading in Berlin, where German politicians are trying to defend themselves from Donald Trump’s accusation last week that they are being “controlled” by Moscow because of their dependence on Russian gas…
Germany gets its nuclear and coal energy domestically. But Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to phase out both of those energy sources within the next decade. The country has an ambitious renewable energy expansion program in place called the Energiewende which is designed to replace those energy sources with solar and wind. But sceptics say it is more likely to be replaced by Russian gas – hence the economic imperative of the new Nord Stream II pipeline which Trump criticized at the NATO summit…Germany may not be “controlled” by a dependency on Russian gas at the moment, but if the disappearing coal and nuclear energy is replaced by Russian gas, it would quickly be in a situation where it is. And that has many in the West very concerned.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davekeating/2018/07/19/how-dependent-is-germany-on-russian-gas/#59a2a2d43b48
Ezequiel Doiny is author of “Obama’s assault on Jerusalem’s Western Wall”
