25 July 2022
Russian gas company Gazprom said it will again significantly cut off gas supplies to the European Union through the main pipeline due to maintenance work.
The energy giant said stopping another turbine in its Nord Stream 1 pipeline would cut daily gas production to 20 percent, halving the current level of supply.
But the German Economy Ministry denied that there were technical reasons for this reduction.
This is likely to make it difficult to renew gas tanks before winter arrives for European Union countries.
Gazprom had earlier announced that it would reduce its supply to 40 percent of the pipeline’s capacity to repair turbines.
The company said on Wednesday that the gas flow would drop to 33 million cubic meters per day, in order to repair a Simans turbine at the compressor station.
The European Commission urged countries to cut gas use by 15% over the next seven months after Russia warned it could restrict or stop supplies altogether.
Wholesale gas prices have risen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, with an indirect effect on consumer energy bills.
Nord Stream 1 is the largest gas pipeline connecting Russia with Europe. Its capacity is 55 billion cubic meters per year.
“Technical error”
The Russian state-owned company said the latest supply cut will start at 0400 GMT on Wednesday due to the “technical condition” of one of the last two turbines in operation.
But a spokeswoman for the German Economy Ministry told AFP: “According to the information we have, there is no technical reason to cut supplies.
In it, the Kremlin asserts that it is a reliable energy partner, and blames Western sanctions for the recent disruption of gas supplies to the European Union.
Gazprom says delays in returning equipment serviced in Canada – due to sanctions – have forced it to keep gas flowing through Nord Stream 1 to only 40% of capacity.
“We do not play by the rules that we did not create,” said Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom.
Gazprom has completely cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland, due to its refusal to comply with the Kremlin’s order to pay its bills in rubles rather than in euros or dollars.
The European Union accused Russia of using energy to blackmail the bloc, but the Kremlin asserts that the disruption of supplies is caused by maintenance operations, and the impact of European sanctions.
European politicians expect that Russia will completely cut off gas supplies in the winter, which will throw Germany into recession, and lead to inflamed prices for consumers who are already suffering from the high cost of living.
Last week, Germany announced the disbursement of $15 billion to rescue Uniper, a company that specializes in importing gas from Russia.
Putin’s warnings
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West that the continuation of sanctions will trigger a crisis in energy prices, and will lead to disaster for consumers around the world.
He pre-empted what happened when he said: “There are two pumps in operation, with a total capacity of 60 million cubic meters per day. If one is not repaired, only one remains with a capacity of 30 million cubic meters.”
Russia is the second largest oil exporter in the world, after Saudi Arabia, and the largest gas exporter in the world at all. Europe imports 40 percent of its gas needs from Russia and 30 percent of its oil needs as well.
Gazprom resumed pumping gas through Nord Stream 1 last week, but only at 40 percent of its capacity. This is the level to which Russia reduced its supplies in June, citing the delay in the return of turbines from Canada.
The Europeans rejected this explanation, as Germany said that the turbine was not to be used before September.
Gazprom said it had received documents from Siemens and Canada, but other problems remained.
“Gazprom has studied the documents and found that they do not eliminate the previously mentioned risks, and that they add other problems,” the company said in a statement.
“Furthermore, there are issues raised about UK and EU sanctions, the resolution of which is necessary for the delivery of turbines to Russia, for the complete overhaul of the Portovaya pressure plant.”
The Kremlin said earlier that it was not considering a complete halt to gas supplies to Europe, which rushed to fill its gas reserves in preparation for peak demand in the winter.
He added that Gazprom is not responsible for stockpile risks, stressing that the Europeans are suffering from the sanctions that they themselves imposed on Russia.