Russian energy giant Gazprom on Friday evening extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, without offering a timeline for reopening.
The move came hours after G7 countries agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil in a bid to stem the flow of funds to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Gazprom, the state oil and gas company, said supplies would be halted indefinitely after a leak was detected. He said the pipeline would not be restarted until repairs were fully implemented.
Nord Stream 1 is the largest gas pipeline from Russia to Europe and has the capacity to deliver 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year. Continuity of supply through the gas pipeline is considered crucial to avoid the deepening of the energy crisis.
In a statement on Telegram, Gazprom said: “Gas transportation on the Nord Stream pipeline has been completely stopped until complaints about the operation of the equipment are eliminated.”
It said in the social media post that it had identified “malfunctioning” of a key turbine along the pipeline, which carries natural gas from western Russia to Germany, and that the pipeline would not operate unless s ‘remove
supply routes
Early on Wednesday, Gazprom completely halted the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1, in line with an earlier announcement, adding that the shutdown would last for three days. Flows were due to resume shortly after midnight on Saturday morning.
The company said work was needed on the only remaining operating turbine at the Portovaya compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline, but German officials cast doubt on that explanation.
The timing of the move will raise questions about whether Putin was responding to the imminent imposition of a cap on Russian oil. Finance ministers from the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada agreed on Friday to a plan to put a ceiling on Russian oil prices.
The proposal would mean importers seeking shipping services and insurance cover from companies based in the G7 and EU countries would have to adhere to a price cap to transport Russian oil. It is likely to be introduced from December.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s regime has been accused of using gas as a weapon by cutting supplies to Europe, raising prices and threatening blackouts.
Gazprom officials have already indicated that they would blame sanctions for disrupting gas deliveries to Europe. Speaking earlier this week, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller indicated that manufacturer Siemens could not make repairs to the turbines used in Nord Stream 1 because of sanctions against the Russian state energy company.
The shutdown will add to concerns that Europe, and Germany in particular, will be forced to significantly reduce energy use for homes and businesses this year.
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European countries have rushed to fill their gas storage facilities in case Russia completely shuts off gas supplies this winter. Germany’s storage facilities are more than 84% full.
The head of Germany’s grid regulatory agency, Klaus Mueller, tweeted that Russia’s decision to keep Nord Stream 1 off for now increases the importance of new liquefied natural gas terminals that Germany plans to start operating this winter, gas storage and “important needs to save” gas.
The European Commission’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, said: “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under false pretenses is further confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier.”
Jacob Mandel, a senior commodities associate at energy consultancy Aurora, said the shutdown of flows through Nord Stream 1 “does not significantly alter the outlook for European imports of Russian gas in recent weeks.”
Mandel said Nord Stream 1 was delivering about 30 million cubic meters per day, or 20% of its 55 bcm capacity, before the latest shutdown. He said that equates to only about 3.7 million cubic meters for the rest of this year or more than 18 million square meters if it were operating at full capacity. That represents just 4 percent of Germany’s annual demand and less than 1 percent of Europe’s annual demand, he said.
Mandel added: “That said, supply is hard to come by and it’s getting harder and harder to replace every bit of gas that doesn’t come from Russia.
“Europe’s storages are on track to meet or even exceed their targets for this summer, and for now there is plenty of room to replace that gas with LNG imports, but as the weather turns cold and demand starts to increase in winter in Europe and Asia, there is only so much LNG Europe can import to replace Russian gas.