Nord Stream 2 Ready for Gas Exports Yet Legal Hurdles Remain

  • Gazprom completes filling the second line with technical gas
  • Controversial pipeline awaits approvals from EU regulators

A compressor station, which accommodates downstream gas flows from the Nord Stream 2 project, in Radeland, Germany.

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Gazprom PJSC has finished preparing the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline for natural gas exports to Europe, yet actual deliveries depend on how quickly regulators grant the project approval amid souring relations between Russia and Western nations.

“Nord Stream 2 is ready for operations,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday at a meeting with energy officials broadcast on Rossiya 24 TV. “Now everything depends on our partners, consumers in Europe, in Germany,” he said.