A recent speech by the European Commission’s vice-president in charge of energy Maroš Šef?ovi? has added fuel to an ongoing debate about the second part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. Nord Stream 2, like the initial pipeline, is planned to pass from Russia to Germany, under the Baltic Sea. The project , involving the construction of two new pipelines, should double the current capacity of the pipeline by adding 55 billion cubic meters annually to its throughput. Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom is the operator, in consortium with German energy leaders BASF, Wintershall, and E.ON, plus Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, Austria’s OMV, and French utility Engie (formerly GDF Suez). Naturally, the main reason for the opposition is the persistent worry among EU members that any further gas transportation capacity built by Gazprom will only strengthen its foothold on the continent, which already gets between a quarter and […]