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The consortium developing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has filed a notice seeking arbitration over its dispute with the European Commission over EU gas rules, considering that the European Union is breaching its obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).

In July 2019, Nord Stream 2 already brought an action for annulment before the General Court of the European Union, claiming that the Directive (EU) 2019/692 amending the EU Gas Directive infringed the EU law principles of equal treatment and proportionality, discouraging the pipeline project. The Directive requires gas pipelines not to be owned directly by gas suppliers and to make render available to third parties at least 10% of capacity. According to the European Commission, this rule applies to all pipelines used to import gas into the European market and completed before the entry into force of the Directive (May 2019) and is fully compatible with the EU’s international obligations.

The €9.5bn (US$11bn) Nord Stream 2 project is developed by Gazprom (50%), Uniper, Shell, OMV, Wintershall and Engie (10% each) and is aimed at doubling the throughput of the current Nord Stream route between Vyborg (Russia) and Greifswald (Germany), from 55 bcm/year to 110 bcm/year. The gas pipeline project has been approved in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Russia and is already under construction in Germany with the aim to flow first gas by the end of 2019.

Russian hydropower company Rushydro has reached an agreement with Andrey Melnichenko, a minority shareholder of the Far Eastern Energy Company (DEK), under the terms of which Rushydro will swap the Luchegorsky steam coal mine and the 1.5 GW Primorsk power plant in the Russian Far East for a 42% stake in DEK and a minority stake in Far East Distribution Company (DRSK).

Brazil’s national oil and gas company Petrobras has released a first part of its new 2020-2024 plan. In the Exploration and Production segment, the group will focus on deep and ultra-deep waters to develop world-class oil and gas assets and to maximise portfolio value.

ExxonMobil has signed an agreement with Vår Energi for the sale of its interests in non-operated upstream assets in Norway for US$4.5bn, as part of its strategy to divest around US$15bn in non-strategic assets by 2021.

The French Secretary of State for Ecological and Solidarity Transition has set up a closure schedule for the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, which will be stopped in two phases: the first 880 MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) will stop operations by the end of February 2020 and the second 880 MW one by the end of June 2020. …

Indian state-owned thermal power generation company NTPC has put the first 800 MW unit of its 1,600 MW Lara supercritical coal-fired power plant in Chhattisgarh (India) in commercial operation. The power unit started to generate power in March 2018. The second unit is still under construction and is expected to be commissioned after March 2020. …

US LNG project developer Excelerate Energy has been formally authorised to develop the Luzon floating LNG import terminal project in the Philippines, after it received a notice to proceed from the Philippines’ Department of Energy.

The Kazakh government intends to build a US$1bn gas processing plant near the Kashagan oil and gas field. Developed in partnership with the North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), the project would use gas from Kashagan and would have a capacity of 1 bcm/year. The financing model has yet to be chosen. …

BHEL has started to build the boiler column for the 1.6 GW Uppur supercritical coal-fired power project in India. The project is developed for Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) and includes two 800 MW units.