YouSaid · the spoken record

Eyl-Mazzega

lines on the record
8
first
2022-09-30
most recent
2022-09-30
sittings or episodes
1
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un-security-council

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  1. “And, overall, there is a clear upward limit to additional energy supplies from the United States to Europe in future, which is why Europe is looking for other options to help replace some of the Russian gas. In conclusion, these explosions set an extraordinary precedent where energy infrastructure is targeted by obvious sabotage operations of a sophisticated nature. We had seen this before in Ukraine. This should be, in my view, not only a concern for Europeans, but actually for the rest of the world, because anything happening in Europe has global implications.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  2. “What then is the new situation we are in now following the pipeline explosions? I cannot but refer to the incredible massive methane leak, which an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report called dangerous. As a footnote, I would add that it is regrettable that Russia has not signed on to the Global Methane Pledge, and satellite pictures of Russia suggest Gazprom has been ramping up gas-flaring operations in recent months. Spot gas prices are up again, and Gazprom can still export a lot more gas via Belarus and Ukraine, if it really wanted to. I see little impact on United States energy exports to Europe in the short to long term. United States supplies to Europe will remain steady unless the weather interferes.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  3. “Against this backdrop, the relevance and value of the Nord Stream corridors to Russia have obviously declined. Financially, this huge investment is a de facto sunk-cost investment. Gazprom had, as I said, stopped transporting gas for Nord Stream, and whatever the relevance of its explanations, Gazprom has and had the ability to reroute gas going through Nord Stream via either Belarus or Ukraine, but this did not happen. It is a widely shared view among experts that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would probably never be put into operation following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The EU has therefore been working over the past months to phase out Russian gas as soon as possible, meaning when contract obligations allow, and in turn Russia has pledged to rapidly divert its gas infrastructure to Asia, in particular to China and India.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  4. “On the one hand, in Europe we have soaring prices, which cause incredible burden and pain on consumers, utilities and public finances, while Gazprom has made huge profits. And in the rest of the world, many large importers are deprived of access to LNG cargoes because simply they cannot afford to pay for them. The consequences are clear: many countries and companies turn to such dirty fuels as heavy oil or coal as LNG became unaffordable, which has caused, of course, huge and lasting environmental damage. So where did we stand just before the pipeline explosions? Gazprom ended contractual relations, much to my regret, in an incredible, unprecedented move, with most of its European customers in full tatters, so that flows through the pipeline had already been stopped for several weeks.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  5. “At the end of February, Germany indefinitely stopped the certification procedure for Nord Stream 2. Shortly after that, Gazprom reduced gas supplies to Europe via Poland and Ukraine, and, in the following months, using various pretexts and reasons, it progressively started to entirely cut off most of its customers, but this time in disregard for long-term contracts. This summer, in an unprecedented move, Gazprom further reduced export volumes via Nord Stream, blaming Western sanctions on equipment. As we speak, that extraordinary pipeline infrastructure had actually been shut down for many days and weeks. Europe and many important countries around the world have been severely impacted by Gazprom’s market behaviour.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  6. “That happened last year at the climax of tensions between the United States and Russia around Nord Stream 2, whose construction was being finalized but was slowed down due to United States sanctions. Finally, the pipeline construction was completed following a meeting in Geneva between President Biden and President Putin, and, by the autumn of 2021, the opening of the pipeline was pending the completion of a certification procedure to make sure that it complied with European Union (EU) law. The last point, which is an important one, is that the reduction in Gazprom supplies last year happened as the EU published its accelerated decarbonization plan for 2020 and as the Russian military build-up started around Ukraine. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in February this year therefore aggravated the tensions over the gas supply.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  7. “In a nutshell, the explosions are another episode in the long-lasting geopolitical confrontation between the United States and Russia, on the one hand, and Europe and Russia, on the other hand, where energy and pipeline infrastructure have taken centre stage and have been weaponized. Allow me to go back a year. In June 2021, when the first unprecedented intervention by Gazprom on the European gas market took place. Gazprom unusually started to reduce its gas exports to European markets — however, respecting contractual obligations. That pushed gas prices up and led to a slow increase in imports of liquefied natural gas to compensate. Nord Stream was indeed fully operational by then.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source

  8. “I am a researcher at the French Institute for Foreign Relations. For several years, I have been working on Russian- Ukrainian gas issues. (spoke in English) I cannot but concur with Mr. Kupriyanov’s assessment that the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 corridors were designed and laid on the bottom of the sea through extraordinary state-of-the-art technology with a view to reducing the risk of any significant damage eventuating from storms, non-exploded Second World War bombs, vessel anchors, fishing trawls or sinking ships. They are great pipelines. To my best knowledge, an accident can therefore be ruled out. However. I am not in a position to say what exactly happened. Instead, in my remarks, I will try to contextualize those unprecedented events, as Mr. Kupriyanov put it.”

    2022-09-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9144 (2022) · source