Mark Iden

The USA has begun to devise plans to supply Europe with natural gas in the event of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) and Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) have developed the 10th edition of the System Development map, illustrating existing and planned gas infrastructure and gas capacities in 2020-2021.

In the wake of massive nationwide protests against sharp liquified natural gas (LNG) price rises which approximately doubled the cost of the fuel overnight, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a group which runs Kazakhstan's main crude oil blend to export terminals, said on Thursday it was continuing to operate normally amid the state of emergency in the central Asian country.

The European Commission has developed a controversial plan to call certain natural gas and nuclear energy projects as "green" investments.   Companies must meet economic and environmental criteria listed in the EU's sustainable finance taxonomy in order to qualify.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued new rules for the operation of pipelines in "unusually sensitive areas."  Such areas include the Great Lakes region, marine coastal waters and beaches.

As Russian saber-rattling on the eastern front of the Ukraine continues unabated, so too does the West's preoccupation with Nord Stream 2, with threats to prevent any gas from flowing through the pipeline reverberating from diverse sides of the Nato alliance.

Jim Teague, Co Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Products Partners, said during the World Petroleum Congress  held last week in Houston, Texas that his company could repurpose some of its vast U.S. network of energy pipelines for carbon capture and sequestration projects.

RWE, a multinational energy company based in Essen, Germany and Novatek, the second largest natural gas producer based in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in West Siberia, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding envisaging the supply of (still to be produced)  low-carbon ammonia and hydrogen.

Behind the scenes Germany is patiently working with the United States to implement a deal allowing for the ultimate transportation of natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Nord Stream 2 subsea pipeline.

The Federation of the German Economy, BDEW, BVEG, DVGW, FNB Gas, VKU as well as Zukunft Gas, welcomes the EU / USA Global Methane Pledge on the collective goal of reducing methane gas emissions.  This is a big step forward, an important signal, especially for the states which up to now have not signed the document.  The reduction of methane emissions is a global challenge and will only succeed