Why the Russian gas should be delivered to Poland via Germany?
German cancelor, Angela Merkel, has recently offered Poland political guarantees regarding gas supply security in connection with the North European gas pipeline project (Nord Stream). In her opinion there are some companies that would be able to build a gas transportation infrastructure that would allow to supply Poland with gas from Germany. This gas could come either from the North European gas pipeline, i.e. Russia, or Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal.
Even if construction of additional gas interconnectors between Germany and Poland would be beneficial for both countries as they’d allow exchanging gas in situation of supply disruption or temporary surplus in one of the countries, what is the reason for transporting Russian gas to Germany and then sending it back to Poland? Even more challenging would be transporting this gas to the Baltic States that, as recent events demonstrated, might also be affected by disruption of gas supply from Russia.
There is a simpler alternative to Ms. Merkel’s proposition – the Amber pipeline project. This pipeline could deliver Russian gas to Germany through stable countries, being members of the EU, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. A branch to Estonia might also be build. All those countries are reluctant to the North European pipeline project, since it creates a risk they might be cut off from the deliveries from Russia when it enters a dispute with Belarus or Ukraine again from which countries they currently get their supplies. In addition, the Amber pipeline should be significantly cheaper than the undersea North European pipeline (Nord Stream).
It’s clear that Ms. Merkel supports the North European gas pipeline project (Nord Stream) in which major German energy companies (E.On, BASF) are involved. Also, the construction of the proposed transportation infrastructure from Germany to Poland would mean additional revenues for German companies. They would also benefit from the transit fees when the Russian gas would be transported back East. However, this does not look like an atractive proposal for Poland and the Baltic States.
See also:
links about the North European gas pipeline (NEGP, Nord Stream) on del.icio.us
