Yet another freezing shower on the energy market. The protagonist is once again gas, whose prices shot up this morning (+11% at 88 euros per megawatt hour on the December contract of the FTT) after the announcement of the German Federal Network Agency – the Bundesnetzagentur – which decided to temporarily suspend the approval procedure of Nord Stream 2, the Baltic Sea gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany.
At the basis of the decision there would be an obstacle relating to the legal form of the company that manages the project. As explained by the agency, the certification of Nord Stream 2 “is only possible if the operator is organised according to a legal form under German law”. The certification process, which represents one of the last mandatory steps before the work becomes operational, will therefore remain suspended until the operator of Nord Stream 2, based in Zug (Switzerland) has completed the transfer of “key assets and human resources” to a subsidiary set up in Germany for the German part of the pipeline, the agency said. Furthermore, once done, the European Commission will have to proceed with a further verification that could last up to 4 months. Subsequently, the project will have to return to Germany, where the Bundesnetzagentur will have another two months to issue the final certification.
"We are not in a position to comment on the details of the procedure, its possible duration and the impact it may have on the timing of the pipeline operations start-up," commented Nord Stream 2 after receiving a notification from the German authority.
The stop to the gas pipeline, albeit temporary, represents a significant problem that exacerbates the tensions that have been affecting the gas market for months. According to many analysts, Nord Stream 2 would be essential to at least partially solve i supply problems that Europe is facing, but also to reduce the fluctuations in gas prices, which have reached the stars. Indeed, once operational, the pipeline could transport 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year, allowing the Russian giant Gazprom to reach Germany and other European countries directly without passing through Ukraine.
In this context, according to market sources cited by Repubblica, the gas flows from from Russia to Europe, continue to be very low (40 mcm/d compared to the average of 110 mcm/d last year), despite last month the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, hinted that he wanted to increase exports to Europe. Yesterday, Monday 15 November, the news that the Russian giant Gazprom would have also booked a lower capacity pipeline for December. At the same time, the halt to the production of a gas due to technical problems also contributes to supporting gas prices field in Norway, which according to indications will not be resolved before Friday.
