(Adds background)
DUESSELDORF, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The Nord Stream 2 gas
pipeline is not exempt from European Union rules that require
the owners of pipelines to be different from the suppliers of
the gas that flows in them to ensure fair competition, a German
court ruled on Wednesday.
The Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court threw out a challenge
brought last year by the operators of the Gazprom-backed
project to carry gas from Russia to Germany under the
Baltic Sea. They had argued the rules were
discriminatory.
The EU rules require the companies that produce, transport
and distribute gas on European Union territory to be separate,
or "unbundled". They aim to ensure fair competition in the
market and to prevent companies from possibly obstructing
competitors' access to infrastructure.
This means that the company transporting the gas must
auction its capacity to third parties.
The Nord Stream 2 operator claims the rules, amended in
2019, were aimed at torpedoing the pipeline. The project is
strongly opposed by many European governments, some of whom see
it as a Russian state venture designed to increase the bloc's
dependence on Russian gas.
The rules will cost NS 2, which links Germany directly with
Russia under the Baltic Sea, additional time and money but will
not stop its completion.
The consortium also includes five western utilities and oil
companies, namely Uniper, Wintershall-Dea
, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV
and Engie, who put up 50% of the finance.
The $11 billion project with a transport capacity of 55
billion cubic metres, has faced political opposition from
Washington as well as from Ukraine and Poland, which stand to
lose out on lucrative transit business if the pipeline goes into
operation.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff
Editing by Madeline Chambers and Maria Sheahan)
