At the end of last week, an event took place in European-American energy relations, no matter how strange and funny, and so far "vague": it is not very clear at all yet what it was at all - either a frontier "pin prick" in a truly Gallic spirit, or whether the transfer of "competition" in the economic relations of the old and the new continent to a fundamentally different, new level.
In short, that very wonderful fork in history, when it is not so important what exactly, how much - how exactly the event in question happened.
However, let's start in order.
Last Friday, a real sensation broke out: as two leading news agencies, first Reuters and then Bloomberg, reported with a small time difference, the French energy giant Engie (by the way, one of the partners of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project) postponed at the request of the French government signing an agreement for the supply of American liquefied natural gas worth $ 7 billion - and now attention!
- under the pretext of "environmental risks".
At the same time, if we consider that all more or less radical in terms of the level of exactingness, green organizations in both the New and the Old World are under vigilant and total political control, as if it were softer ... mmm ... the "Atlantists" themselves, then this circumstance looks more more sophisticated, cynical and even somewhere more or less funny.
After all, we are not talking about the “totalitarian molecules” of Russian pipeline gas, where any “environmental” requirements, including “spawning cod”, are absolutely justified.
And about the most democratic and freedom-loving liquefied shale gas from the very citadel of democracy.
Although, of course, in all fairness, the French politicians, power engineers and environmentalists certainly had grounds for some, let's put it mildly, “environmental concern”.
And as a matter of fact, the main and fundamental “environmental” question to the American oil shale industry was and remains the question to the so-called fracking method, which does not correspond to any intra-European, but even generally universal understanding of the “environmental norm”.
Or many specialists whisperingly called nothing else but a "barbaric" technology of hydraulic fracturing.
By the way, as the main, basic technology in the extraction of shale gas - in fact, no other technology for its effective production has simply been invented by mankind, and it is unlikely that he will ever get his hands on it.
Everything is simple here.
Fracking indeed, on the one hand, makes it possible to increase the recovery factor of oil and gas wells and increase the injectivity of injection wells, which makes working with these not too rich wells commercially viable.
On this, in fact, the whole "great American shale revolution" is built.
But at the same time, the hydraulic fracturing technology itself is monstrously "dirty" from the point of view of any international environmental standards, since as a result of hydraulic fracturing, groundwater is polluted with aggressive chemicals.
At least, this has been documented more than once directly in America itself, namely, the ingress of substances such as additives for gel viscosity, various acids and anticorrosive mixtures into groundwater is pleasant, in general, so little, and it is so far from European environmental standards corresponds that, at a minimum, the French authorities and business could launch the additional verification procedure at virtually any suitable moment.
What they immediately took advantage of.
Another thing is that there are known doubts that the French - both the authorities and business - are freezing a deal of this magnitude (not only does this purchase "weigh" $ 7 billion, it is also structurally important for the entire American gas industry, because it was, in fact, the guarantor of the start of construction of the NextDecade cyclopean export LNG terminal in Rio Grande, Texas) focused exclusively on "environmental problems" on the North American continent far from La Belle France.
In the end, Paris has too many problems, they still lacked an energy scandal with their "senior partners".
This means that the reason here is far from only in the field of "ecology", and it is somehow very naive not to understand.
Equally, it would be very naive to suppose what is happening, say, “an action in support of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” despite the fact that the French energy giant Engie really values relations with its Russian counterparties much more than, say, with overseas ones.
And in the Nord Stream 2 AG project, the French company is generally one of the "main partners".
But the initiative comes here - and this is confirmed by virtually all sources - not from Engie, but from the Ministry of Economy of the Fifth Republic, and this, excuse me, is still a slightly different alignment.
Because for France, which has prudently preserved, unlike Germany itself, its atomic generation (by the way, in terms of nuclear technologies, the French, according to the expert community, confidently hold the second place, right after us, but confidently overtaking both the Americans and Chinese comrades) , all this turmoil over Russian pipeline gas and American LNG is much less critical than for the same German-speaking countries.
And Engie can change American LNG in this particular situation if only for exactly the same LNG from Qatar or from Russian Yamal.
Simply because the French operator Engie will receive its portion of the Russian pipeline product through its "co-ownership" Nord Stream 2, regardless of who, the operator, will purchase LNG from.
Here is such a, sorry, it turns out a very curious alignment.
On the one hand, it is simply delightfully complex, burdened with a complex system of mutual agreements and obligations.
And at the same time - simple: because everything here is not based on abstract, say, human rights or some other unknown “democratic principles”.
And banal economic and selfish interests.
In which the very "democratic values" as well as "environmental requirements" are not a goal at all, but a banal instrument, and a very crude one, sometimes even with elements of outright semi-criminal blackmail.
And this is not a "turning point" and not expected by dreamers "Europe has woken up" - it just means that the multi-year party called "who will own the energy platform of Europe" is moving from the opening into the middlegame.
Moreover, if in the opening one of the players managed through the schemes of the "Arab spring" to decently weaken the flow of energy raw materials into the Old World from North Africa, to blow up the Mediterranean markets and to control the "Ukrainian routes" of Russian energy supplies to Europe, then in response the Russians together with the Europeans, alternatives to the classic routes Nord Stream and Turkish Stream were built, the construction of Nord Stream 2 is at the final stage. And, in addition, it has also been partially restored (except for the critical Libya, but it is very difficult there without a leader like Gaddafi) energy supplies along African corridors.
The Mediterranean shelf is being explored.
In a word, that very active phase of tactical skirmishes begins, such "pin pricks" and other "fights of local significance" (the fate of this particular deal, I am sure, the Americans will be able to decide, the question is solely in the price, including the "political price") , retreats and counterattacks.
In Russia, by the way, all this is also well understood and that is why they are not particularly deceived by what is happening.
Kasha there, in this "European theater of military operations" in the field of trade and economic wars, will still, apparently, be quite long and furious: the middlegame is the middlegame.
And the very, excuse me, the height, the very "meat", which, undoubtedly, awaits us all in this very Europe, is still ahead.
And, as we already wrote, we will - and this is not even discussed - we will complete the construction of the specific Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline for the Europeans.
Firstly, everything was made long ago by the same Europeans and paid for.
Secondly, Putin promised.
So - here the Europeans have nothing to worry and fear, we will do everything.
But further development of energy cooperation with Russia will have to be earned.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.