BERLIN, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Germany will put on a show of unity with the United States Tuesday in talks on importing natural gas, as Berlin battles accusations an under-construction pipeline deepens European energy dependence on Russia.
Economy Minister Peter Altmaier will meet the US deputy energy secretary, Dan Brouillette, Tuesday morning at a conference his ministry is hosting on liquid natural gas (LNG).
“Germany and the US share an interest in secure and dependable energy supplies,” Altmaier said in a statement Monday.
“With LNG we can get gas from even more suppliers and increase our security of supply.”
LNG as a potential alternative to Russian gas became a hot topic as construction on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline got under way last year.
The pipeline will double the capacity of an existing link between Russia and Germany, and combined with the planned Turkstream connection could remove the need to pump gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Kiev fears eliminating its role as a transit country will expose it to further aggression from Moscow, after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and backed separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east.
Altmaier said his meeting with Brouillette was simply an opportunity to “discuss the development of the LNG import market with companies and energy industry federations” from both sides of the Atlantic.
“Competitive prices” for gas were a precondition of any import business, he underlined. — NNN-AGENCIES
