Switzerland-based Allseas -- which has been integral to laying the
controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany -- is
monitoring developments around potential US sanctions against the
project, a company spokesman said Monday.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a defense
spending bill, which includes language designed to allow for sanctions
to be imposed on vessels laying Nord Stream 2.
The US Senate is expected to approve the bill this week after which it is expected to be signed off by President Donald Trump.
"We are closely following the situation," the Allseas spokesman
said, declining to comment on any potential impact of the proposed
sanctions.
According to S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow, two
Allseas pipelaying vessels are currently moving in a northeast-southwest
direction off the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
The Pioneering Spirit began laying the Danish part of Nord Stream 2
around November 28 and has tracked some 60% of its route to the border
with Germany's Exclusive Economic Zone, according to cFlow.
The Solitaire is around four days behind the Pioneering Spirit, according to cFlow.
The timeline for work to lay the section of pipeline in Danish
waters will be key to when Nord Stream 2 is able to begin flowing gas,
with wider implications for the European gas market -- including whether
Russia's Gazprom agrees a new transit deal with Ukraine's Naftogaz
post-2019.
The Danish Energy Agency on October 30 granted a permit to the Nord
Stream 2 operator to build the section of the pipeline in Danish waters
southeast of Bornholm.
It was followed by a four-week period after the permit was granted
for any appeals to be submitted, which ended on November 28, allowing
for construction to begin.
