US greenlights sanctions on mega Russia-EU gas pipeline

The U.S. Senate has approved a defense bill that will see sanctions imposed on companies working on Russia’s massive flagship gas pipeline project to Germany — but the sanctions might not have much effect given that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is almost complete.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass the multi-billion dollar billion defense policy bill, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on Tuesday. The NDAA covers a broad range of defense policy and military spending.

The annually-set NDAA is also significant for Europe’s energy scene, however, as the 2020 bill also contains provisions to impose sanctions on companies installing deep sea pipelines for Russia’s $10.5 billion Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany (via the Baltic Sea).

The pipeline is Russia-led, under the aegis of the country’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, but has been part-financed by several European energy companies, including Shell, OMV and Engie.