Russia has resumed this morning the supply through the Nord Stream gas pipeline after 10 days of maintenance work, as confirmed by a spokesman for the network operator. The European Union feared that the Kremlin would turn off the tap completely as a pressure measure in the face of the sanctions imposed for the invasion of Ukraine, in one more move in the chess game with Moscow over gas. The activity has returned to “almost 40%” of the total capacity of the infrastructure, according to data from its managing consortium, Nord Stream AG, cited by the Russian agency Ria Novosti. This volume is similar to that which has been sent since June, before the technical break.
Since that month, the Nord Stream has only operated at 40% of its capacity, a limited pumping that Russia justified with the argument that Canada was blocking, due to sanctions, the return of a turbine engine that was under repair in that country, an argument that the European Union considered a pretext. The Reuters agency reported this Thursday, citing “sources familiar” with the case, that this turbine engine is blocked in the German city of Cologne because the Russian authorities have not yet given permission for its entry into Russian territory.
“Nord Stream AG has successfully completed all the planned tasks on both lines of the gas pipeline in accordance with the established deadlines,” says the statement published by the consortium, where it has not explained the reason for this limited pumping. “The schedule and the work plan were agreed in advance with the partners”, added the company to emphasize that this review, which takes place once a year, had been agreed with Europe.
Last Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the gas supply could be further reduced but the Kremlin has washed its hands of limitations on pumping the hydrocarbon. “Any technological difficulties that are related to this come from the restrictions that were imposed by the European states themselves, the European Union,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said at his daily press conference. In addition, he has criticized fears of a total supply cut. “In recent days, we have heard many reproaches. of the lady [Ursula] Von der Leyen [la presidenta de la Comisión Europea] and other representatives of the European Union. They accuse us of using the gas situation to blackmail, to exert political pressure. These statements are absolutely false,” added Peskov.
This Tuesday, during a meeting with journalists in Tehran, Putin said that the Russian state gas company Gazprom not only did not have that turbine repaired in Canada, but another one has failed because an internal lining broke. The Russian leader added that until now two turbines were working that provided some 60 million cubic meters per day and, if the replacement does not arrive, the pumping will drop even more. “That would be 30 million cubic meters a day”, he underlined about facilities that have the capacity to send 167 million.
Key to Germany
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The Nord Stream I gas pipeline is key for Europe and especially for the German locomotive. Opened in 2011, it has a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, about a third of all that was imported from Russia that year. That country supplied around 45% of the 380,000 million cubic meters of gas that the community bloc bought abroad in 2021.
A decade ago, the good relations between Berlin and Moscow gave birth to the idea of building a second gas pipeline, the Nord Stream 2, which was opposed by the rest of the Eastern European partners and the Ukraine because they considered that the Kremlin could divide Europe in this way. in case of attack. Its construction ended in January, but Brussels has never authorized its use. However, Putin has recently insisted again on resuming that great project while he closes other gas pipelines: “We have another route ready, Nord Stream 2, and it can start up.”
The head of the German energy regulator, Klaus Mueller, said on Wednesday that Nord Stream would return to operation, but only at a third of its capacity. “It’s better than nothing, but it’s not contractually agreed,” he told Reuters. “If we can get this 30%, it could help store [gas]But we will have to wait,” he added.
European gas reserves have already reached 64.4% of total capacity, although the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that these should fill 90% of the deposits with the start of the cold in October. Its director, Fatih Birol, praised this week how the community bloc has so far replaced Russian gas. Europe has increased the import of liquefied natural gas and is gradually increasing the purchase of piped gas from other regions of the world.
The IEA recommended, however, to place much more emphasis on reducing the consumption of this fuel and making the population aware of the emergency situation in which the continent finds itself after the Russian offensive. Birol not only proposed to temporarily resort to coal, but also to compensate the industry that has contracted energy for spending less, and to cut electricity consumption in the administration. According to his calculations, reducing the heating of homes in Europe by a couple of degrees would compensate for the complete closure of the Nord Stream in winter.
Brussels feared that Russia would turn off the tap completely as a pressure measure in the face of sanctions. “Russia blackmails us. Use energy as a weapon. For this reason, in the face of a major partial or total cut of Russian gas, Europe must be prepared,” Von der Leyen warned on Wednesday, presenting a plan for member states to reduce their gas consumption by 15%.
This proposal received the frontal opposition of Spain. The Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, rejected the measure: “Unlike other countries, we Spaniards have not lived beyond our means from an energy point of view.”
“There is no excuse”
Von der Leyen pointed out that Russia had no pretext to boycott the supply through Nord Stream. “The turbine is in transit, it will arrive on time. There is no excuse not to supply the gas,” he stated.
However, castling Nord Stream is not the only move in this chess where both sides accuse each other of lying. The Soyuz gas pipeline runs through Ukraine on its way to the European Union. Since May, the Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine (GTSOU) has been demanding that Gazprom divert the flow from the Sojranivka pumping station in Lugansk to Sudia, the one that moves the most volume, because the pro-Russian separatists in the eastern province extracted gas there that the European Union has bought.
The Russian gas giant refused “for technical reasons.” However, GTSOU stresses that between 40 and 60 million cubic meters pass through Sudia per day, when it has a maximum capacity of 244 million. Putin gave another version: “[Sojranivka] came under the control of the Luhansk People’s Republic [una de las provincias separatistas prorrusas en Ucrania] several months ago, and they close it now without any justification. Everything was working normally there, no one interfered, and suddenly it was closed for political reasons.”
Another move in this game took place in Poland. The Kremlin completely cut off the tap through the Yamal gas pipeline in May because Warsaw refused to pay in rubles for its gas. This was in response to the fact that Putin, in the face of sanctions against his banks, decreed that Gazprom clients should open a special account in a subsidiary of the gas company to convert their payments into Russian currency there. Poland, like Bulgaria and Finland, refused in the face of the legal problems that it could pose for litigation in the future.
However, Warsaw began to buy some of the Russian gas imported by Germany from Berlin, which has also drawn criticism from Putin. “It is advantageous for German companies to sell to Poland at a small premium, and for Poles it is more advantageous because it is cheaper than buying directly from us, but the volume of gas has decreased on the European market and its total price has risen. . Who has benefited? All Europeans have lost”, stressed the Russian president.
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