Citing routine maintenance, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has announced the interruption of the supply of gas to Europe for a period of three days at a time when energy prices are already soaring and deliveries are lower than ever.
The repairs, announced earlier in the summer, are described by the Russian company as “necessary” in order to fix problems in a compressor station on the Russian side of the pipeline, which links gas-rich fields in northern Siberia to Germany.
In the early hours of 31 August, the flow of gas along the pipeline effectively dropped to zero, according to data published by the European gas transport network ENTSOG and the website of the Nord Stream parent company.
Gazprom has announced that it had entirely suspended its deliveries of gas to Europe via the pipeline, noting that planned works on the compressor station had already begun. The company claims that the maintenance work, which will continue until Saturday, must be carried out “every 1,000 hours” of operation time.
Related News
- Russia to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe from today
- Sharp drop in European gas price as countries hurry to fill reserves
Experts, however, have cast doubt on the veracity of the repairs, calling it a case of energy warfare. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom’s refusal to use Ukraine’s transit infrastructure significantly drove up the price of gas in what is now considered to be an attempt to isolate Ukraine.
Speaking to The Brussels Times in June, Andrii Ursta – an expert from Ukrainian energy think-tank DiXi group – stated that the frequent maintenance and reduced volumes through the Nord Stream pipeline were likely “an attempt to justify foreign trade restrictions”. Ursta suspects that the claim of frequent repairs was “likely nonsense, as there are too many coincidences.”
Over the last few months, Gazprom has reduced the quantities of gas delivered through the pipeline by 80%. On 25 August, the price of natural gas once again exceeded €300 per megawatt-hour (MWh) – levels unseen since the start of the war in Ukraine.
