(Adds OMV statement, background, paragraphs 9-13)
By Patricia Zengerle and Kirsti Knolle
WASHINGTON/VIENNA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Underscoring U.S.
lawmakers' continuing unhappiness with Russia, a Senate
committee on Wednesday advanced legislation seeking to hamper
Russian energy pipelines and boosting NATO but delayed voting on
a measure nicknamed the "sanctions bill from hell" that would
punish Moscow for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved four energy
bills, including the "Energy Security Cooperation with Allied
Partners in Europe Act of 2019," which opposes Russia's Nord
Stream 2 pipeline, encourages NATO countries not to buy Russian
gas and expedites U.S. natural gas exports.
The bill also calls on President Donald Trump to impose
sanctions under existing law for sales of equipment or
investment used for the construction of Russian energy export
pipelines.
That vote, like the others, sent the act to the full Senate,
but there has been no indication yet of when the chamber's
Republican leaders would allow votes given the crowded schedule
as the year nears its close.
The legislation must pass the full Senate and House of
Representatives before they can be sent for Trump to sign into
law or veto.
Lawmakers, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans,
have been pushing the president to take a harder stance against
Russia over election interference, aggression toward Ukraine and
involvement in Syria's civil war.
The committee also approved an act directing the State
Department to prioritize assistance in developing European
energy infrastructure.
And it passed legislation that would require State to
determine whether Russia should be designated a state sponsor of
terrorism, as well as a measure requiring congressional approval
if the president seeks to withdraw from NATO.
"We are aware of the political debates as well as of the
ongoing legal procedure in the U.S. Congress," a spokesman for
Nord Stream 2 said. "We cannot comment on any implications for
our project."
Rainer Seele, CEO of Austrian energy company OMV,
which is a financial partner with Russia's Gazprom and
others in Nord Stream 2, has condemned the bill.
"Sanctions against Nord Stream 2 are a hit to Europe and
Germany, a close ally (of the United States). It’s time for
Berlin and Brussels to take a clear political stance and to
retaliate," Seele said in a statement on Thursday.
Nord Stream 2, which will double the existing Nord Stream's
capacity from its current 55 billion cubic metres of gas a year,
is owned by Gazprom, which is taking on half of the planned
costs of 9.5 billion euros.
The rest is divided among five European energy companies -
OMV, Germany's Uniper and Wintershall,
Royal Dutch Shell and France's Engie.
DASKA VOTE POSTPONED
The committee did not consider the Defending American
Security from Kremlin Aggression Act, known as DASKA, introduced
in February by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Bob
Menendez, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel.
Graham dubbed DASKA the sanctions bill "from hell" because it
would impose strict and broad penalties.
Targets of DASKA sanctions would include: Russian banks that
support efforts to interfere in foreign elections; the country's
cyber sector and new sovereign debt. It also would impose strict
measures on Russia's oil and gas sector.
Senate aides said the committee delayed DASKA because Graham
was chairing a Judiciary Committee hearing and unable to attend
the Foreign Relations meeting.
Republican Senator Jim Risch, the foreign relations
committee's chairman, said the panel would consider it next
week. Aides said that could slip into 2020, as lawmakers are
due to leave next week for their year-end holiday recess.
ClearView Energy Partners analyst Kevin Book said he did not
regard the bills passed on Wednesday as having significant
impacts on energy, "but we regard their collective passage as a
signpost of continuing congressional anti-Russia sentiment."
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle Washington and Kirsti Knolle in
Vienna; additional reporting by Timothy Gardner;
writing by Patricia Zengerle and Katya Golubkova; editing by
Steve Orlofsky and Jason Neely)
