Russia’s Gazprom announces Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Europe to remain fully closed indefinitely
Russia‘s Gazprom has raised the possibility of a prolonged halt of natural gas supply to Europe through a key pipeline to Germany, citing the need for urgent maintenance work.
The Russian state-run energy company said in a social media post that it had identified “malfunctions” of a key turbine along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries natural gas from western Russia to Germany.
It said the pipeline will not work unless these are eliminated.
Early on Wednesday, Gazprom completely halted the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1, in line with an earlier announcement, adding that the stoppage would last for three days.
The company said work was necessary on the only remaining functioning turbine at the Portovaya compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline, but German officials cast doubt on that explanation.
It was the latest development in a saga in which Gazprom has advanced technical problems as the reason for reducing gas flows through Nord Stream 1 – explanations that German officials have rejected as a cover for a political power play following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
Gazprom said it had identified oil leaks from four turbines at the Portovaya compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline, including the sole operational one.
It claimed to have received warnings from Russia‘s industrial safety watchdog that the leaks “do not allow for safe, trouble-free operation of the gas turbine engine”.
“In connection with this, it is necessary to take appropriate measures and suspend further operation of the … gas compressor unit in connection with the identified gross (safety) violations,” the company said.
In recent weeks, Nord Stream 1 has been running at only 20 per cent of capacity.
Meanwhile, U.S. treasury secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday Russia will find it advantageous to sell oil at a price capped by Western countries because otherwise it would have to shut down production, and its ability to restart output would suffer permanent damage.
Yellen told MSNBC in a live interview that the G7’s price cap plan would reduce funds available for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“They will do much better economically if they choose to sell into the price cap than if they were to shut in that oil,” she said of Russia.
