Will there be an auction?

US investor wants to buy Nord Stream 2

The controversial Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline has always been a thorn in the side of the US government, as the pipeline would make Europe even more dependent on Russia in return for cheap natural gas. After one of the two Nord Stream 2 pipes was blown up in September 2022, there were several media reports claiming that Washington was aware of the act of sabotage. The intact section of the pipeline could now end up in US ownership.

A US investor and supporter of Donald Trump is being talked about as a potential buyer of the decommissioned pipeline. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, financier Stephen Lynch has asked the US government for permission to bid in a possible auction in Switzerland. It would be a unique opportunity to bring Europe's energy supply under American and European control, he told the newspaper.

"Leverage in negotiations with Russia"
Lynch is also arguing with the US government that ownership of the pipeline could be used as leverage in negotiations with Russia over an end to the war in Ukraine, the newspaper added. He is betting that the natural gas pipeline will be sold at auction if an insolvent subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom is unable to restructure its debts and its assets are liquidated.

Transactions with companies subject to sanctions require express permission from the US government. The underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany was completed in 2021 but never went into commercial operation. One of its two pipelines was damaged by explosions in September 2022, while the second is intact. In the case of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, both pipes were damaged. In view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Russian natural gas supplies are currently out of the question.