Recently, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany exploded. Was it sabotage?
In order to answer this question, any good detective wants answers: Who had a trained underwater demolition team to plant a bomb under 30 feet of water and close to a 480inch diameter pipeline, a bomb being powerful enough to tear a large hole through one inch of the pipe’s steel wall?
According to Swedish Navy reports, a loud thud was heard followed by a gusher of natural gas exiting the water.
Perhaps the next question: Who would benefit from the damage, making the pipeline in operable?
The major loser in this war in Ukraine is Germany, which was until recently, the economic powerhouse of Europe. It’s striving export business consistently generated trade surpluses which enabled the country to financially support the notorious budget deficits of the southern European states.
The trouble started with U.S. sanctions intended to hurt Russia, but wound up putting a severe burden on the German economy. It forced the German government to shut down the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
In addition, following orders forced the European Parliament to put other import restrictions on Russian oil and gas from Nord Stream 1 and other inland pipelines.
This, in effect, cut natural gas usage by 60%. This at a time when the German government, following orders from the World Economic Forum, managed by Klaus Schwab, and in concert with the U.N., was forced to close coal fired power plants and was going to close all remaining atomic power plants, in order to stop global warming.
The idea was to replace those (non-green) power sources with power plants using gas. Bad timing indeed!
The decimated future economic and political role of Germany, and therefore of Europe, will also negatively impact the role of the euro on international trade, long a splinter in the eye of the U.S. Treasury, trying to defend the strategic role of the U.S. dollar against all other currencies.
It is not only electric power (Germany has among the highest electric and gas prices in Europe), but it has one of the world’s largest chemical industries, which demands large amounts of gas for powering their furnaces. It also as a vital feedstock for a variety of vital chemicals.
It may happen that during this winter, when gas demand is the highest, some of the chemical companies may have to curtail their production, or, even close down completely. Cost is also an issue since the wholesale price for liquid natural gas (LNG) increased from $10 in 2021 to about $80 in 2022.
This caused smaller EU countries to propose a cap on the price of gas, which does not work, since it does not curtail use, and may force supplier to find other markets.
But don’t worry, the U.S. government promised to make up for this shortfall by shipping LNG at a price per unit twice of that from Russia. The problem here is, that in order to receive this gas, huge off-loading and evaporation facilities have to be built at Germany’ harbors, not to mention associated infrastructure such as additional pipelines.
This all will take years and will pose a huge burden on the German finances, which will result in a rare budget deficit and inflation. In the meantime, one might expect a severe economic and political crisis.
Western governments used to fret about the political pressure on Germany if ever the Russians would weaponise their gas. That problem is gone, but now Germany will have to depend on the goodwill of the United States when, in the future, the U.S. will be able to indirectly control much of the German economy using the supply of LNG as both a carrot and a stick.
To summarize, the major U.S. benefits so far:
- Eliminates a good part of the Russian natural gas market,
- Opens up a huge new market for the U.S.. oil and gas industry.
- Greatly diminishes the role of the euro currency in international trade
- Reduces Germany’s role as U.S. competitor in world markets.
Note: While there was no gas flowing at the time of the attack, the pipeline was still filled with gas in order to keep the steel from corroding. Incidentally, it takes 50 million cubic feet of gas just to fill the pipe.
Dr. Hans Baumann, a former Corporate Vice President and founder of his company, is a well known inventor, economist, and author having published books on scientific, economic, and historical subjects. Read Dr. Hans Baumann's Reports — More Here.