What advantages does the Nord Stream project actually offer to Russia and the EU?
The advantage of the Nord Stream consists in that it will be the shortest and the most effective way of transporting gas from the Shtockman gas condensate field to Europe. Its importance is difficult to overestimate. It is common knowledge that demand for gas in Europe is rising from year to year while its own production within the European Union is dropping. By the year 2015, purchases of this energy carrier by the EU countries are expected to increase by 200 billion m3, that is, to 536 m3 a year. The Nord Stream will be able to provide for just about 25% of the EU’s supplementary gas export. The gas pipeline will run across the Baltic Sea bottom from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany. About 1,200,000 km long, it will consist of two parallel strings of a 27 m3 throughput capacity a year each. Its pipes, 1,220 mm across, will transport gas at a working pressure of up to 220 atm without intermediate compression. From Germany, gas will proceed to Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands
