Summary
- Nord Stream flows halted for three days this week
- supplies were due to resume on Saturday at 0100 GMT
- Russia blames sanctions for pipeline disruptions
- Brussels says Russia using gas as an economic weapon
Russia abandoned a September 3 deadline to restart flows via a major gas supply route to Germany, heightening Europe’s difficulties in obtaining winter fuel, after saying it had discovered faults in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline during servicing.
Nord Stream 1, which operates under the Baltic Sea, had been scheduled to resume operating at 0100 GMT on Saturday after a three-day halt for servicing.
But Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the state-controlled firm with a monopoly on Russian gas exports via pipeline, said on Friday it could not safely resume supplies until it had repaired an oil leak found in a vital turbine. It did not provide a new time frame.
However, Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), which usually repairs Nord Stream 1 turbines, said such a leak should not prevent the pipeline from operating. It also said the Portovaya compressor station, where the leak was found, has other turbines for Nord Stream to continue operating.
The company stated:
“Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site. It is a routine procedure within the scope of maintenance work.”
Moscow has condemned sanctions, imposed by the West after Russia invaded Ukraine, for hindering routine operations and servicing of Nord Stream 1. Brussels says this is an excuse and Russia is using gas as an economic weapon to hit back.
“This is part of Russia’s psychological war against us,” tweeted Michael Roth, chair of the German parliamentary foreign affairs committee. Siemens Energy said it is not currently commissioned to conduct maintenance work on the line but is available.
European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said earlier that the EU should impose a price cap on Russian pipeline gas to limit what she said were President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to control the market.
Russia has rejected previous claims of manipulating the gas market or using gas as an economic weapon. Europe and the United States joined forces to ensure adequate energy supplies were available, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Friday.
The spokesperson added:
“It is unfortunately not surprising that Russia continues to use energy as a weapon against European consumers.”
Wholesale gas prices have climbed 400% since August last year, squeezing European households and industry as demand bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic and because of the war in Ukraine.
“We see that the electricity market does not work anymore because it is massively disrupted due to Putin’s manipulations,” Von der Leyen said, adding that a gas price cap on Russian pipeline deliveries could not be recommended at the European level.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would cut off supplies to Europe if Brussels placed such a cap.
“There will simply be no Russian gas in Europe,” he wrote on the Telegram app in response to Von der Leyen.
Reduced supplies via Nord Stream, together with lower gas flows via Ukraine, another vital route, have already left European states struggling to replenish storage tanks for winter and stoked many to trigger emergency plans that could cause energy rationing and spark concerns about recession.
European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer tweeted that Gazprom had acted under “fallacious pretenses” to turn off Nord Stream 1. “It’s also proof of Russia’s cynicism, as it prefers to flare gas instead of honoring contracts.”
Group of Seven finance ministers decided on Friday to impose a price cap on Russian oil exports. Moscow said it would stop oil sales to countries placing the cap, adding that the move would disrupt oil markets. Russia is the world’s leading exporter of fuel and crude combined.
‘Better Prepared’
Germany’s network regulator said the country was more braced to deal with a disruption to Russian supplies, but companies and households had to reduce energy consumption.
“It’s good that Germany is now better prepared, but now it’s down to each and every one,” Klaus Mueller, president of the Bundesnetzagentur, said on Twitter.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated earlier on Friday there could be further disruptions to supplies via Nord Stream 1.
“It’s not the fault of Gazprom that the resources are missing. Therefore, the reliability of the entire system is at risk,” he said when asked if more outages were likely.
Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said on Wednesday that sanctions meant Siemens could not conduct regular repairs. EU governments have been warming up to the possibility that Russia halts supplies entirely, after Gazprom first cut flows in June and once more in July.
This week’s servicing was declared at short notice.
Germany, which is especially dependent on Russian supplies, has been rushing to stock up its storage tanks before winter. That storage is currently about 85% full, but Berlin says achieving a 95% target by Nov. 1 will be difficult unless households and companies reduce their consumption.
Buy Crypto NowThe EU has surpassed its 80% target for storage to be full by Oct. 1, set for when heating usage increases, but that may not sustain Europe through the winter if Russia keeps the taps shut.
Some energy-intensive European companies, such as aluminium and fertilizer producers, have already reduced output owing to skyrocketing power prices, while some domestic consumers have limited usage to save on soaring energy bills.
