First Line of Nord Stream Hits Full Capacity

The first line of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline maximum operating capacity, a Gazprom official said.

Vitaly Markelov, deputy chief executive officer at Gazprom, was quoted by the Platts news service.

"Yesterday, we reached the maximum capacity of Nord Stream," he said

The first of Nord Stream's two parallel pipelines that ships Russian gas to western Europe via the Baltic Sea became operational in November 2011.

Each line is approximately 1,220 kilometres long and has a transport capacity of 27.5 bcm per year. Line 2 has already been laid and is undergoing pre-commissioning. When it goes on stream in late 2012, both lines together will provide a capacity of 55 bcm per year.

The Nord Stream consortium has said that it is already considering further expanding the natural gas pipeline

The consortium said its shareholders have asked the company to conduct "a feasibility study" intended to assist in evaluating possible solutions to meet the need for the EU to "increase its imports of natural gas over the coming decades and to secure gas deliveries under existing contracts."

Nord Stream's shareholders are: OAO Gazprom with a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, BASF SE/Wintershall Holding GmbH and E.ON Ruhrgas AG each with 15.5 per cent, and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and GDF SUEZ S.A. each with 9 per cent stakes.

Related Reading About Nord Stream HERE