European natural gas prices extended gains as Russia signaled deeper supply reductions through its biggest pipeline to the continent.
One more turbine at an entry point of the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany is being halted, lowering flows to 67 million cubic meters a day from 1:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, Russian exporter Gazprom PJSC said. That follows a reduction announced a day earlier citing issues with repairs of turbines produced by Siemens, and brings the total cut in supply through that link to 60%.
“Gazprom’s decision to further cut capacity on Nord Stream 1 will have seismic ramifications for the European and global gas market,” said Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS in London. “It will be increasingly hard for storages to be refilled ahead of the winter. The key question now is for how long these lower Russian flows will persist.”
