Kassel (Germany), December 19 - Neftegaz.RU. Liquefied natural gas shipped from the US currently cannot compete economically with natural gas that is transported to Europe via pipelines, Wintershall board member Thilo Wieland says in an interview on the oil and gas producer’s website, Clean Energy Wire reported.
«LNG from the US is too expensive» Wieland said, adding that the planned controversial pipeline Nord Stream 2 that connects Germany with Russia via the Baltic Sea is «the shortest and hence most economical route to transport large quantities of gas» to Germany.
Wieland says Russian gas will be needed as other European source countries are set to lower production while at the same time the use of natural gas in Germany is set to rise in a bid to replace coal-fired power production with less carbon-intensive natural gas.
He said that Wintershall is keeping an eye on developments concerning Russia, but the company is not hit by sanctions.
«When you look at the map, you see that the Baltic Sea pipeline is the shortest and hence most economical route to transport large quantities of gas. Its ecological footprint is also smaller as a result of the short distances, but also because we can compress gas more strongly in underwater pipelines than on land», he noted.
Read the official interview in English here.
