SCHWERIN (dpa-AFX) - The investment in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project made sense at the time in the view of energy company Wintershall Dea. Both the gas demand in Europe and the price difference between pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas in tankers, as well as the lower CO2 footprint, had spoken in favor of the participation in the form of an investment. This is what Wintershall board member Thilo Wieland said on Friday in Schwerin before the parliamentary investigative committee of the state parliament on the controversial climate protection foundation MV. The gas supplies from Russia, which have been reliable for decades, were also an argument, he said.

Wieland referred to the World Energy Council, according to which between 2015 and 2030 a reduction in Europe's own natural gas production from 135 billion to 90 billion cubic meters per year was expected. Demand, on the other hand, was expected to increase. Russia's geographic proximity to Western Europe, in particular, had had the greatest effect on expected import costs and carbon footprint.

According to the company representative, the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 played a subordinate role in the decision to invest. Entrepreneurial considerations would have been in the foreground. Accordingly, the company saw an unchanged framework set by the EU.

According to Wieland, after the start of the war in February 2022, the BASF subsidiary immediately wrote off the investment in Nord Stream 2 and distanced itself. Wintershall recently wrote off its entire Russian business, worth seven billion euros, he said. Production in the gas fields in which Wintershall had a stake reportedly continued, as they were operated by joint ventures involving Russian companies./ssc/DP/nas