Press events 2008

Press-trip of Scandinavian Media to Siberian Gas Fields

Nord Stream invited media from Denmark, Finland and Sweden to visit natural gas fields and production facilities in Novy Urengoy, Siberia from 1 to 5 April 2008. This was a unique chance to gain “on the ground” impressions of how natural gas is explored, treated and transported. The visitors witnessed how people live and work in the difficult climatic condi-tions to ensure reliable gas supplies and saw at first hand the advanced technologies used to produce efficiently from deep underground.

The Scandinavian journalists had the opportunity to discuss with Nord Stream and senior representatives of Gazprom, BASF/Wintershall, E.ON Ruhrgas and Gasunie key issues concerning European gas supplies over the coming decades, the benefits of co-operation of gas exporters and importers along the whole gas supply chain and aspects of the energy partnership between Russia and the EU. Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Gazprom, confirmed that Russia has substantial gas reserves and will be able to increase production substantially as new fields come on-stream from 2011.

Dr. Manfred Fischedick, Vice President of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Germany) pointed out the benefits of gas, which results in far lower greenhouse gas emissions than other fossil fuels, in the drive to limit climate change. Replacing fossil fuels with natural gas is thus a rational element in climate protection as a bridge to the use of renewable energy. That is why the share of gas in the European energy mix is growing.

Here you can download a presentation on the media-trip (0.5MB).

Here you can download the complete press-kit of the media-trip (4MB).

Nord Stream press briefing, Stockholm, 7 January 2008

Nord Stream invited Swedish media to a press briefing in Stockholm on 7 January 2008. The event was divided into two sessions, including a presentation of the application process, followed by questions from the audience.

Permitting Director Dr. Dirk von Ameln opened the meeting. During his presentation he assessed the question of what Nord Stream is and why it is needed. He highlighted the forces that drive energy, climate change and energy security. Dr. von Ameln also provided his views on the future challenges within the energy sector and the mutual interdependence between supply and demand.

According to Dr. von Ameln, natural gas will play an important role in several countries near Sweden in the future. The aim is to secure energy supply based on a secure infrastructure. Dr. von Ameln stated that Europe will be dependent upon additional gas imports as a result of decreasing production in the UK. He also stressed that Nord Stream is a priority project of the EU as stipulated by the TEN-E guidelines.

Jens D. Müller, Communication Manager, continued by providing information related to the application. He noted that the application is an important part of the process and marks the starting point of a new phase in the dialogue with the Swedish government.

According to Mr. Müller, the application is of the utmost importance for five reasons. First, it is a start of a new level of dialogue. Second, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) contains a wealth of information. Third, the advanced environmental research conducted by the company MMT has included surveys of 30,000 km of the Baltic Sea, ranging from analyses of birds and mammals to plankton. Fourth, the best route was selected. With the help of MMT’s advanced environmental research, detailed information has been obtained about nature protection areas, maritime traffic, telecom cables, dumped chemical munitions and sediments resulting from construction within the Baltic Sea. Fifth, the next steps have been defined. The next step in the process is to intensify the dialogue with the Swedish government and to submit applications in Russia, Denmark, Germany and Finland.

The presentation held during the briefing can be downloaded here.

Please find the press release here.