Yamal-Europe Gas Pipeline
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Yamal-Europe Gas Pipeline transports gas from the Yamal peninsula to European consumers and travels across Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany.[1]
Contents
Location
The pipeline carries gas from the Yamal Peninsula region of western Siberia through Belarus and Poland and into eastern Germany, where it connects with the Western European gas grid.[2]
Project Details
- Operator: Gazprom, PGNiG, WINGAS
- Current capacity: 33 billion cubic meters per year
- Length: 4,107 km / 2,552 miles
- Status: Operating
- Start Year: 2006
History
Belarus, Poland, and Russia signed intergovernmental agreements on the Yamal-Europe Pipeline in 1993, and the following year a Gazprom-Wintershall joint venture began building the German segment. First-stage gas transmission began in 1997, and the segments through Belarus and Poland were finished in 1999. Since 2005, when construction of all compressor stations was accomplished, the pipeline reached the final-stage capacity of 33 bcm/y. Plans to build a second 33 bcm/y pipeline, Yamal–Europe Two, through Belarus onward to Europe had been discussed, but Poland and Russia disagreed over the route. Poland wanted it to go through southeast Poland, to Slovakia and Central Europe. Those plans were indefinitely shelved in 2007 in favor of constructing the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.[3]
Gazprom and the Belarusian state company Beltransgaz have been in conflict over the amount of Belarus’ debt for gas purchases, as since 2006 Russia has sought to raise its price to reflect market/global prices. Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenka insisted that his country’s participation in building a customs union with Russia and other former Soviet republics entitled it to a recalculation of gas import prices from Russia. Ultimately, Gazprom gained half-ownership of Beltransgaz in partial payment of the accumulating debt. In June 2010, Russia began gradually reducing volumes transmitted to Belarus, which responded by paying the amounts demanded.[3]
Ownership
Gazprom is the sole owner of the Russian and Belarusian gas pipeline section. EuRoPol Gaz (a joint venture of Gazprom and Polish PGNiG) owns the Polish pipeline section of the gas pipeline. WINGAS (a joint venture of Gazprom and Wintershall Holding GmbH) owns the German section of the gas pipeline.[4]
Background
The 4,107km-long gas pipeline can carry 33 billion cubic meters a year. It transports natural gas from the Yamal peninsula to European consumers. Construction began in 1994 and the pipeline was fully commissioned in 2006. The total cost was estimated around $36 billion.[1]
Route and Technical Details
The 402km Russian segment starts from the Torzhok gas transmission hub in Tver Oblast. This section receives gas from the Northern Tyumen Regions (SRTO)–Torzhok gas pipeline. It consists of compressor stations at Rzhevskaya, Kholm-Zhirkovskaya and Smolenskaya.[1]
The 575km Belarusian section runs across Belarus and includes five compression stations, at Nesvizhskaya, Krupskaya, Slonimskaya, Minskaya and Orshanskaya. It passes through nearly 200 kilometers of bogs, 75 river crossings, 10 railways lines and three power transmission networks.[1]
The Polish section is 683km-long and passes through 32 railway lines, 246 roads, streams and seven large rivers.[1] This section also includes five compressor stations at Ciechanow, Szamotuly, Zambrow, Wloclawek and Kondratki.[1]
The German section is connected to the YAGAL-Nord gas transmission system which is in turn connected to the STEGAL–MIDAL–Rehden UGS gas transmission system.[1]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Yamal – Europe Gas Pipeline, Hydrocarbons Technology, accessed April, 2018
- ↑ Gazprom's Yamal-Europe gas pipeline project nears start-up, Oil & Gas Journal, November 8, 1999
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Yamal-Europe Natural Gas Pipeline, Oil Price.com, February 14, 2011
- ↑ Yamal-Europe Gas Pipeline, accessed April, 2018
Related SourceWatch articles
- Existing Pipelines in Russia
- Existing Pipelines in Belarus
- Existing Pipelines in Poland
- Existing Pipelines in Germany
