Russia is no longer sending gas to Europe and Siemens denies it could be due to a leak

BarcelonaThe German energy company Siemens Energy has ruled out that an oil leak in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, like the one that the Russian state consortium Gazprom says it has detected in a compressor station, is reason enough to suspend the shipment of gas. “As the manufacturer of the turbines, we can only state that such a finding does not constitute a technical reason to stop operation,” said a spokesman for the German company.

The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which carries Russian supplies to Germany, had been shut down since August 31 for maintenance work and was due to resume operation this Saturday morning. According to Gazprom, however, a leak has been detected that affects the only active turbine and forces it to stop “until the problems are solved”.

Siemens has remarked that “these leaks usually do not affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site” and has specified that it is “a routine procedure within the maintenance tasks”. In addition, from Siemens they emphasize that, in the past, the appearance of this type of leaks has not meant the suspension of the operations. “Regardless of this, we have already pointed out several times that there are enough turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for the operation of Nord Stream,” they add.

Gazprom’s announcement came on the same day that the G-7 announced a cap on the price that group of countries pay for Russian oil. In addition, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had also suggested as a measure to limit the price that Europe pays for gas in Moscow.

“We are not afraid of Putin”

Meanwhile, the German government has assured that it has “taken note” of Gazprom’s decision. “In recent weeks we have already seen Russia’s unreliability and accordingly we have continued in an incorruptible and consistent manner with our measures to strengthen the independence of Russian energy imports,” a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economy said in a statement. In this regard, he insisted that Germany is now “much better prepared than a few months ago”.

So, the level of gas storage tanks in Germany are currently at 84.3%, meaning that the goal of filling them up to 85% by October 1 has been should be able to reach already the first days of September, they specified from the Germanic executive.

When asked about the shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, the European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “We are not afraid of the decisions of the [president Vladímir] Putin.” Brussels expects Russia to respect existing energy contracts, but the leader warned that Europe is ready to face the challenge if it does not. “We ask them to respect their contracts, but if they do not, we are ready to react,” he said.

Gentiloni also pointed to high levels of gas storage across the EU and plans to reduce energy consumption as a sign that the continent is already preparing for what will be a harsh winter. Speaking on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy, he argued that other nations could join the Russian oil price cap agreed on Friday by the G-7.