An operator at one of the Nord Stream gas pipeline stations. /
The measure was announced shortly after the G7 countries agreed to limit the price of oil from the country to put pressure on Putin.
New twist to the gas tap that Russia controls from the Kremlin through the state company Gazprom against Europe. Since this past morning, the NordStream I gas pipeline, which connects Russia with Germany, has remained closed after Moscow announced a leak that prevented the delivery of gas through this infrastructure.
However, Siemens itself, Nord Stream’s usual supplier of turbines, clarifies that there are no technical reasons for paralyzing the gas pipeline, since this type of leak does not affect the operation of a turbine and can be solved imminently as part of a routine process. The German company has added that the compressor of the affected station has other turbines that would allow it to continue operating.
The Russian state consortium Gazprom announced yesterday afternoon the indefinite suspension of the operation of Nord Stream 1, the main pipeline that supplies gas to Europe. According to the company, during the routine maintenance of the turbine of the Portovaya compressor station, the only one that guaranteed the supply through said tube, “an oil leak was detected” in the engine equipment.
“Until the malfunction of the equipment is eliminated, the transit of gas through the Nord Stream gas pipeline is completely suspended,” Gazprom reported on its Telegram account, where it also published a photo of cables covered in a dark liquid.
The Russian gas company was supposed to resume supply today through the Nord Stream -it sends the gas to the north of Germany, from where it is distributed to other countries on the continent, and it was already operating at only 20% of its capacity- after three days of maintenance work on a compressor station turbine. According to Gazprom, representatives of Siemens, in charge of the maintenance of the turbines, verified the presence of the fault.
For its part, the Russian Federal Technical Supervision Service warned that the problem detected did not guarantee the safe operation of the turbine. “It is necessary to take the corresponding measures and suspend the operations of the Trent 60 turbine in relation to the serious violations that have been detected,” he said in a note.
However, Siemens stated hours later that the version given by Gazprom “does not constitute a technical reason to cease operations” in the infrastructure. According to this company, “this type of leak does not usually affect the activity of the turbine and can be fixed on site”, without the need for the manufacturer to intervene. “It’s a routine procedure,” he stressed. Just this week, the president of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, had warned that the repair of the Nord Stream turbines in a specialized factory is now impossible due to Western sanctions.
Irritation in Brussels
Brussels’ response to the supply cut was blunt. The spokesman for the European Commission, Eric Mamer, assured on Twitter that these are “false excuses” by Russia, “another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier.” In his opinion, “it is also another proof of Russia’s cynicism, which prefers to burn gas instead of fulfilling contracts.” For the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, Gazprom’s announcement “is no surprise”, but he warned: “The use of gas as a weapon will not change the EU resolution”.
The announcement of the Nord Stream cut-off came just hours after the G7 finance ministers agreed yesterday to set a limit on the price of Russian oil and its derivatives. The measure, which will be applied “urgently”, is specifically designed to reduce Moscow’s income and try to prevent it from financing the war in Ukraine, while seeking to curb the impact of energy on inflation.
To achieve this, the G7 will prohibit the transport of these products of Russian origin as long as their price exceeds the limit it establishes. That price cap has not yet been set, but according to the statement released by the block of the seven most developed countries in the world, it will be based on “technical details” and “it will be communicated in a clear and transparent way.” Similarly, such limitation may be subject to review in the future.
Brussels applauded the step taken by the block and so did the US Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, who assured that in this way it will be possible to “significantly reduce the main source of financing” for Russia.
According to data from the International Energy Agency, between March and July last Russia entered about 94,870 million euros with its exports of crude oil and gas to the EU, almost double that of the previous two years.