Gazprom loses EU court ruling, limits access to Nord Stream pipeline link
Sept. 10, 2019 10:34 AM ETPublic Joint Stock Company Gazprom (OGZPY)By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor12 Comments
Europe's top court overrules a European Commission decision that allowed Russia's Gazprom (OTCPK:OGZPY) to ship more gas through the Opal gas pipeline, which links its Nord Stream pipeline to Germany.
The ruling by the European Union Court of Justice is a victory for Poland and other eastern European nations, which have fought Gazprom's plans to double Nord Stream's capacity and bypass legacy gas routes through Ukraine and Poland, stripping them of lucrative transit fees.
The ruling means Gazprom's access reverts to the conditions before the EC decision, limiting it to 12.8B cm/year of the 36.5B cm/year capacity Opal line; the previous EC decision had allowed Gazprom to bid for up to 12.8B cm/year of extra capacity.
Gazprom's European partners in Nord Stream are Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Germany's Uniper (OTC:UNPPY) and BASF (OTCQX:BASFY), Austria's OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) and France's Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY).
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