Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom says it will have to further reduce gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday as it halts another turbine for repairs.
It comes a few days after Gazprom gas shipments resume Through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a vital artery Connecting Russia’s vast gas reserves to Europe through Germany. The pipeline was shut down for 10 days for scheduled maintenance, and many feared Russia would not resume deliveries once the work was completed.
“Due to the expiration of the stipulated time before the overhaul (in accordance with the Rostekhnadzor notification and taking into account the technical condition of the relevant machine), Gazprom is shutting down another gas turbine produced by Siemens in Portovaya. [compressor station]The company said in a statement on Monday.
“The daily throughput of Portovaya CS will be up to 33 million cubic meters from 7:00 a.m. (Moscow time) on July 27,” the statement said.
Klaus Müller, the head of Germany’s gas regulator, confirmed the move in a tweet on Monday.
“To the best of our knowledge, there is no technical reason for the reduction in gas delivery via Nord Stream 1,” the German economy ministry stressed in a tweet on Monday.
Germany’s regulatory office for gas and electricity said in a statement on Monday: “If Russian gas delivery through Nord Stream 1 continues at this low level, a storage level of 95% by November would hardly be possible without additional measures.” can be obtained.”
The country’s economics minister, Robert Hebeck, had previously called on Germans to reduce gas consumption in order to make gas storage facilities as full as possible for the winter.
According to daily figures provided by the government, Germany’s current total gas inventory is 65.9%.
The reduction in gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will also affect the transfer of gas to other European countries such as France, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Germany’s regulatory office warned that while wholesale prices have risen significantly as a result of gas supplies and have recently settled at higher levels, “businesses and private consumers should be prepared for higher gas prices.” “
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline delivers 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, or about 40% of the block’s total pipeline imports from Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pesko said on Monday that a repaired gas turbine would be installed for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline after all technical procedures have been completed, after which the flow of gas to Europe is “technically possible.”
Peskov insisted that gas supply issues had nothing to do with politics.
“There is no politics here. These are the consequences of sanctions that the Europeans themselves have introduced, and the Europeans themselves are suffering from these sanctions,” he said, adding that Russia does not want Europe to give up on Russian gas.
Moscow will remain a “reliable gas supplier”, he said.
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