As energy costs in Europe skyrocket, Russia is burning vast amounts of natural gas, according to an analysis seen by the BBC.
That analysis reveals that a Russian gas plant near the Finnish border is burning the equivalent of $10 million worth of gas every day.
The experts affirm that, six months ago; In other words, before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, much of this hydrocarbon was exported to Germany.
Germany’s ambassador to the UK told the BBC that Russia was flaring the gas, because “it couldn’t be sold elsewhere”.
The international sanctions imposed on Russia, with the support of the German authorities, and the decision of the European Union (EU) to reduce its dependence on Russian energy exports prevent the government of Vladimir Putin from placing all its production.
an unusual flame
An analysis by energy consultancy Rystad Energy indicates that the new Portovaya liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, northwest of St. Petersburg, is burning some 4.34 million cubic meters of gas a day.
The first warnings were given by Finnish residents near the border who warned of a large flame on the horizon.
Portovaya is near a compression station at the start of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which transports gas under the sea to Germany.
Supply through the pipeline has been restricted since mid-July. The Russians attribute the situation to technical problems, but from Germany they affirm that it is a retaliation for the sanctions.
Since June, researchers have observed a significant increase in heat emanating from the facility, which is believed to be due to the burning of natural gas.
Although gas flaring is common in processing plants, usually for technical or safety reasons, what has been happening in Portovaya alarms experts.
“I’ve never seen an LNG plant burn that much,” said Jessica McCarty, a satellite data expert at the University of Miami, Ohio.
“Starting in June, we saw this huge spike, which hasn’t gone away. It has stayed anomalously high,” he added.
no buyers
The German ambassador to the United Kingdom, Miguel Berger, assured the BBC that this unusual burning is proof that European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas were “having a strong effect on the Russian economy.”
“They don’t have other places to sell their gas, so they have to burn it,” he said.
For his part, Mark Davis, CEO of Capterio, a company dedicated to finding solutions to flaring gas, agreed that the situation is a deliberate decision made for operational reasons.
“Operators are often very reluctant to close installations for fear that it will be technically difficult or expensive to start up, and this is probably the case,” he told the BBC.
Another hypothesis suggests that the burning of gas may be the result of technical problems in handling the large volumes of fuel that were sent through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
The Russian company Gazprom would have tried to use the fuel to manufacture LNG in the new plant, but it could have had problems handling it and, therefore, has chosen to burn it.
“This kind of burning for so long may mean they are missing some equipment,” said Esa Vakkilainen, a professor of power engineering at LUT University in Finland.
“Because of the trade embargo, Russia can’t make the high-quality valves that are needed in oil and gas processing. So there may be broken valves and they can’t replace them,” he said.
Gazprom – the Russian state company that owns the plant – did not respond to requests from the BBC to explain the situation.
muscle display
The huge torch that the Finns can see from their side of the border has also become a show of Russian force.
“Although the exact reasons for the flaring are unknown, the volumes, emissions and location of the flare are a visible reminder of Russia’s dominance of Europe’s energy markets,” said Sindre Knutsson of Rystad Energy.
“There can be no clearer signal: Russia can drive down energy prices tomorrow. This is gas that would otherwise have been exported via Nord Stream 1 or other alternatives,” he said.
International energy prices have been rising after lockdowns imposed to curb covid-19 and return economies to normalcy were lifted.
Many workplaces, industry and leisure suddenly needed more power at the same time, putting unprecedented pressure on suppliers.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine caused another upturn in prices, which was driven by the sanctions that the United States, the European Union (EU) have imposed on Moscow in retaliation for the aggression against its neighbor.
European governments have spent the last few months seeking to reduce their energy dependency on Russia, which until then supplied 40% of the gas used by the EU.
Prices for alternative gas sources have risen, and some EU countries, such as Germany and Spain, are adopting energy-saving measures.
blow to the environment
Scientists are also concerned about the environmental impact of burning the gas, particularly the large volumes of carbon dioxide and soot it is creating, which could exacerbate Arctic melting.
According to the researchers, burning is much better than simply venting methane, which is the gas’s key ingredient, and is a very powerful agent of climate warming.
Russia has a history of flaring gas: according to the World Bank, it is the number one country in terms of flaring volume.
But in addition to releasing some 9,000 tons of CO2 equivalent each day from this combustion, burning causes other major problems.
Black carbon is the name given to soot particles that are produced by the incomplete combustion of fuels such as natural gas.
“Black carbon emitted northwards is deposited in snow and ice, greatly accelerating melting,” said Professor Matthew Johnson of Carleton University in Canada.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-62689226, IMPORTING DATE: 2022-08-26 14:20:05
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