Nord Stream AG is a consortium comprising four major companies: Gazprom, BASF/Wintershall Holding AG, E.ON Ruhgras AG, and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie.

The Nord Stream pipeline will give Western Europe direct access to Russia's vast gas reserves. By connecting the world’s largest gas reserves to the European gas pipeline network, Nord Stream is meeting approximately 25% of the gas requirement.

The natural gas pipeline will link the Russian Baltic Sea with the German Baltic Sea, and it will be one of the world's longest offshore pipelines. In the Russian territory, a 570-mile long on-shore connection is being built by Gazprom to connect the Nord Stream pipeline to the Russian gas transmission system. WINGAS and E.ON Ruhgras will build two on-shore connections, from Greifswald to the south and west of Germany, with a total length of 528 miles.

Nord Stream will consist of two parallel lines with a wall thickness ranging from 26.8 to 41.0 mm. The first pipeline will have a transmission capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters a year, and the project is due for completion in 2011. The second line should be completed in 2012 and will double its capacity to approximately 55 billion cubic meters.

The pipeline will transport natural gas to Germany, which will continue on to Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and France. Italy's Saipem will lay the pipeline and Snamprogetti is working on the detailed technical design of the pipeline.

Work on Nord Stream began in 2005. Construction will start in 2010, and it will reach full capacity in 2012.