Nord Stream 2: Pay your money, take your choice

The pipeline faces a tough financing climate and continued opposition

The Nord Stream 2 project is either the answer to Europe's prayers or one huge nightmare, depending on who you're talking to. Polish lawyers are trying to block it, while Gazprom is hell-bent on getting the strategic pipeline project built, despite the impact of US sanctions. The two-string pipeline project would take Russian gas across the Baltic Sea floor and inject it into Germany and its neighbours. It would add 55bn cubic metres a year of much-needed and relatively cheap gas to a region faced with declining North Sea production. A consortium of industry heavy hitters clubbed together to back the pipeline, with Shell, Austria's OMV, France's Engie and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall eac