(Adds details of companies involved in pipeline, quote from
U.S. official)
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Swiss-Dutch company Allseas
said it had suspended work on building a major Russia-to-Germany
natural gas pipeline in order to avoid U.S. sanctions contained
in legislation signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.
The move throws into doubt the completion date of the $11
billion project that Moscow had said would be ready in months,
jeopardizing plans to quickly expand Russian sales of natural
gas to Europe via pipeline.
The participation of privately-held Allseas, a specialist in
subsea construction and laying underwater pipeline, is integral
to the completion of Nord Stream 2, led by Russia's state energy
company Gazprom.
"In anticipation of the enactment of the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), Allseas has suspended its Nord Stream
2 pipelay activities," the company said in a statement dated
Dec. 21, seen by Reuters shortly before Trump signed the bill.
"Allseas will proceed, consistent with the legislation's
wind down provision and expect guidance comprising of the
necessary regulatory, technical and environmental clarifications
from the relevant US authority."
The annual national defense policy bill contains
legislation, first sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, imposing sanctions on
companies laying pipe for the project that will double the
pipeline's capacity to Germany.
The bill calls on the administration to identify companies
working on the project within 60 days to trigger the sanctions.
That report will likely be completed faster than that, however,
meaning the sanctions could be triggered earlier than expected,
two U.S. senior officials told Reuters.
Nord Stream 2 would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine and
Poland to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Gazprom is taking on half of the project's planned costs and
the rest is divided between five European energy companies:
Austria's OMV, Germany's Uniper and
Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell and France's
Engie.
The Trump administration, like the Obama administration
before it, opposes the project on the grounds it would
strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin's economic and
political grip over Europe. Russia has cut deliveries of the
fuel to Ukraine and parts of Europe in winter during pricing
disputes.
"We have a degree of consistency, over a decade of opposing
this issue, across presidential administrations," one of the
U.S. officials said.
The United States has become the world's top oil and gas
producer in recent years and is aggressively trying to sell the
products abroad. The Trump administration has touted U.S.
liquefied natural gas as "freedom gas" that gives Europe an
alternative to Russian supply.
Washington says that Nord Stream 2 would also likely deprive
Ukraine of billions of dollars in gas transit fees.
Germany says it needs the gas as it weans itself off coal
and nuclear power.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Writing by Mohammad Zargham and
Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)
