Germany has rejected Gazprom’s claim that gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 need to be cut due to technical reasons, as Associated Press explains:
Russia’s Gazprom said Monday that it would further reduce natural gas flows through a major pipeline to Europe to 20% of capacity, citing equipment repairs. The move escalates tensions over energy supplies that are dwindling just as the continent is trying to shore up its storage for winter.
The Russian state-owned company tweeted that it would reduce “the daily throughput” of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 33 million cubic meters as of Wednesday, saying it was shutting down a second turbine for repairs. The head of Germany’s network regulator confirmed the reduction.
“The halving of the nomination of NordStream1 was announced for the day after tomorrow,” tweeted Klaus Mueller.
Deliveries on Monday were at 40% of full capacity when Nord Stream 1 reopened after 10 days of scheduled maintenance last week. The German government said it rejected the notion that technical reasons would lead to further gas reductions.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely in close exchange with the federal network agency and the gas crisis team,” the German economy ministry said in a statement Monday after Gazprom’s announcement.
“According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in deliveries.”
Gazprom to cut natural gas flows through major pipeline to 20% of capacity https://t.co/7piJZe6kDg
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) July 25, 2022
European gas futures rose after Russia’s Gazprom said it will further slash flows through Nord Stream 1 this week.
Bloomberg has the details:
Nord Stream flows were already reduced to 40% of capacity since last month as a separate turbine is delayed following repairs in Canada after uncertainty over the impact of sanctions on Russia. President Vladimir Putin warned last week flows could drop to 20% if the turbine issues aren’t been resolved.
European benchmark futures rose as much as 10% to 176 euros a megawatt-hour and were trading at 172.4 at 4:43 pm Amsterdam time.
Checking in on the European gas price following the last news from Gazprom. pic.twitter.com/J8zzZO50Is
— Neil Hume (@humenm) July 25, 2022
