Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Germany lobbies for rival gas pipelines

|
|
 
  
Published: July 8, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Advertisement

BERLIN, July 8 (UPI) -- Germany has employed two former high-ranking officials to lobby for rival pipeline options to secure natural gas for Europe.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sits on the consortium managing the Nord Stream pipeline from the Baltic Sea to Germany. He has lobbied aggressively for the project as a solution to Europe's energy woes.

Meanwhile, Germany's RWE, which is part of the consortium for the Nabucco pipeline for Europe, has hired former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to act as a political adviser for that project, reports the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

Europe is pushing hard to diversify its energy transit networks following a January row between Moscow and Kiev over gas debts and contracts. That dispute left Europe in the cold for weeks as the majority of Russian gas for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.

Nord Stream would bring Russian gas through the Baltic Sea along a dual route to Germany. Nabucco, for its part, would sideline Russia by bringing Caspian and Middle Eastern gas to customers in Europe.

Europe and Russia see those projects as rivals as the regional energy sector spills over to regional politics. With Germans working on both projects, however, Deutsche Welle reports that gas supplies are more secure regardless of which project wins.

Topics: Deutsche Welle, Gerhard Schroeder
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Energy Resources Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Old news: Nebraska man convicted of driving while drunk and naked, with truck full of naked passengers....
One Million Moms is not pleased with Marvel and DC's homosexual comic book characters, sees no reason...
Woman complains her husband needs porn on TV to get him in the mood for sex - without once describing...
That strange noise your phone just made? You probably shouldn't ignore it as you're about to get...
Good: Petting the sweet kitty at neighborhood bonfire. Bad: Kitty is an ankle biter. Worse: Kitty...
The Colorado River is about to burst forth from its rigid confines and gush its majesty across the...