How long is the Northern European Pipeline? [br] [originaltext] Beneath the

Beneath the Baltic Sea, a pipeline is being built between Russia and Germany. [29] Slated for completion by 2012, the 1,200-kilometer Northern European Pipeline is a $5 billion project that will pump billions of cubic meters of natural gas from Western Siberia to Germany and the rest of Europe. The project has come to symbolize Europe’s growing reliance on Moscow for its energy needs. [30]The European Union buys 25 percent of its gas and 30 percent of its oil from Russia. Several E.U. members, including Slovakia and Finland, are totally dependent on Russian oil. The E.U. estimates that by 2020, three-quarters of its natural gas will be imported. The bulk will come from Russia, which has the biggest natural gas reserves in the world and a pipeline network enabling it to supply both the Far East and the West. Russia is also the world’s second-largest oil producer. The Kremlin wants to build Russia’s economic and political future around its energy. Through its Gazprom, Transneft and Rosneft oil and gas state-controlled monopolies and pipeline operators, Russia already commands nearly all of Central Asia’s energy exports.