EU court overrules EC's decision on Opal pipeline

The Court of Justice of the European Union on Tuesday issued a favourable ruling for Poland by cancelling the EC decision to grant Gazprom 100 percent of the Opal pipeline's capacity. The court's decision keeps Poland's and Ukraine's energy security at a high level, Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski wrote on Twitter adding that the ruling also diminishes the possibility of a serious energy crisis in Ukraine. Opal, which runs through Germany along Poland's western border, connects the Nord Stream I pipeline with the Yamal pipeline infrastructure and pipeline systems in the Czech Republic. The pipeline's annual capacity reaches 36 billion cubic metres of gas. Polish state-run gas company PGNiG has sued the European Commission over its decision to grant Russia's Gazprom more capacity on the Opal pipeline. In October 2016, the European Commission lifted a cap on Gazprom's use of the Opal pipeline, which carries gas from the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea to customers in Germany and the Czech Republic.