MOSCOW, September 3 — PRIME, Andrey Karabyants. Nord Stream was stopped for technical reasons – due to a malfunction of the last gas transmission unit. However, the EU believes that Moscow is using gas as a weapon of retaliation for anti-Russian sanctions. Germany is well prepared for the winter, but everyone will have to save gas and electricity – both enterprises and the population.
“Seven” decided: we’ll keep expensive oil for ourselves, the rest – what’s cheaper
LAST UNIT OUT OF SERVICE
Supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline will not resume on time. The gas pipeline was supposed to resume work on Saturday at 1 am Moscow time, but this did not happen.
During the maintenance of the only gas compressor unit (GCU), which remained in working condition at the Portovaya compressor station, a malfunction was detected – an oil leak from the engine. Gazprom received a warning from Rostekhnadzor, the Russian regulator, that “the detected malfunctions and damage do not allow for the safe, trouble-free operation of the gas turbine engine.”
The regulator believes that it is necessary to take appropriate measures and suspend the further operation of the Trent 60 gas compressor unit in connection with the identified gross violations. Thus, the launch of Nord Stream is postponed indefinitely
The capacity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline is 55 billion cubic meters. m/day The gas pipeline is laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea directly from Russia to Germany, bypassing the territory of neighboring states.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov and representatives of Gazprom have repeatedly said that Western sanctions against Russia do not allow proper maintenance of gas compressor units at the Portovaya CS, which leads to their malfunction and incapacitation.
WEAPON OF REVENGE
Brussels says the sanctions do not apply to the gas industry, so Moscow is using gas as a weapon of retaliation against Europe.
“This is one of the psychological warfare that Russia is waging against us,” Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag (German parliament) foreign affairs committee, tweeted.
Earlier, the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, spoke about the need to set a price ceiling for Russian gas supplied to Europe through pipelines. She is convinced that this will stop “Putin’s attempts to manipulate the market.”
The head of the EC insists on tightening policy towards Russia, despite the rapid rise in gas prices in the European market – first due to the recovery in demand after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, and then due to the reduction in supplies in connection with the special operation in Ukraine.
From August 2021 to early September, spot gas prices skyrocketed by 400%, placing a heavy, unbearable burden on the industry and the population of the EU countries. Many European companies that consume large amounts of gas or electricity – primarily fertilizer, aluminum and iron and steel companies – are forced to reduce or even stop production.
Households are forced to go into austerity mode and reduce gas and electricity consumption.
“We see that because of Putin’s manipulations, the electricity market cannot function normally,” Von der Leyen said, adding that the ceiling on the price of Russian pipeline gas should be discussed at the European level.
The head of the EC proposes to introduce a ceiling on the price of Russian pipeline gas, which is much cheaper than the American LNG supplied to Europe.
Nord Stream rocked the European gas market
Former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russian gas supplies could end altogether if Brussels decides to set a price ceiling.
WINTER ON THE THRESHOLD
The shutdown of Nord Stream, the cessation of supplies via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline and the more than halving of transit through Ukraine jeopardize EU preparations for the heating season, despite large accumulated reserves – European underground storage facilities are about 80% full.
German underground storage facilities are almost 85% full, but it will be extremely difficult to reach 95% if supplies via Nord Stream are not resumed soon.
The head of the Federal Network Agency of Germany, Klaus Müller, believes that Germany is better prepared for the heating season than in previous years. But at the same time, he admits that everyone will have to save money in winter – both companies and the population.
“It’s good that Germany is better prepared, but now it’s up to each of us,” Müller tweeted.
Germany will suffer more than other European countries from the shutdown of the Nord Stream. The country has lost a huge amount of gas, which used to come uninterruptedly from Russia. But Berlin has the opportunity to receive Russian gas again if Nord Stream 2 is launched, the capacity of which is the same as that of Nord Stream – 55 billion cubic meters. m/y (over 150 million cubic meters/day).
However, Germany may lose this potential source of gas. The parliamentary faction of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) demanded to dismantle the Nord Stream 2 section, laid in German territorial waters. The FDP is part of the ruling coalition and is responsible to the German people for the policy pursued by Berlin. Along with the “green” FDP are ardent opponents of the development of economic cooperation between Germany and Russia.
The message about the stop of Nord Stream came after the end of trading, so on Friday the price of gas on the London ICE exchange fell below $2,200/thousand barrels. cube m. Experts expect a jump in prices after the start of exchange trading on Monday.
Related posts:
GitHub Libra Code draws criticism from users 
Tipping on Reddit and Vimeo in BAT introduced by Brave 
Newcomers to the crypto market have to pay attention to scams and pump and dumps 
Hardly any growth in downloaded crypto apps, despite tripling price bitcoin 
Bloomberg accepts Bitcoin – says cryptomonads are here to stay 
The Central Bank can release their cryptocurrencies earlier than expected
