Construction costs of the Nord Stream pipeline, which will pump Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, has ballooned, according to Dow Jones, who claims it may hit almost $US12 billion.
The news agency quotes Gerhard Schroeder, who chairs the Supervisory Board of Nord Stream's operator. The original cost was originally around $US7.5 billion. Schroeder said part of the increase was due to efforts to protect the environment. He also said that within a decade Europe will consume up to 700 billion cubic metres of gas a year. Nord Stream will be able to transport about one-tenth of that. Doctor Dirk von Ameln, the Director of Permits for Nord Stream says construction will start in just over a year. “We are preparing the draft of the environmental impact assessment according to Espoo convention and we will supply that by the end of the month to all the countries involved. We will also file an application in Sweden for both platform and the pipeline at the end of the month,” says he. “The project is going on and the dialogue is coming to more and more fact-driven level,” adds Dirk von Ameln.