Gazprom Won’t Guarantee It Will Turn The Gas Back On For Germany

Gazprom Won’t Guarantee It Will Turn The Gas Back On For Germany

Jack McEvoy on July 13, 2022

Russian state-run energy conglomerate Gazprom cast doubt on the prospects of promptly resuming the supply of natural gas through western Europe’s chief natural gas pipeline on Wednesday.

Gazprom announced that it does not possess the documents that would enable its partner, Siemens Energy, to get a gas turbine engine necessary for the operation of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline out of Canada, according to a Wednesday tweet. It also said that it was impossible to guarantee the safe operation of the Portovaya compressor station located in Russia.

Gazprom decreased the gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany by 60% last month, the Associated Press reported. The energy company claimed that there were technical problems concerning a required turbine piece that Siemens sent to Canada for repair and couldn’t be returned due to sanctions resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, Canada said that it would allow the turbine that powers the compressor station to be delivered to Germany over the weekend to reduce the load on Germany’s already stretched energy economy.

Nord Stream 1 is Germany’s main source of Russian gas, recently accounting for roughly 35% of the country’s total gas supply, according to The Independent. The pipeline also supplies various European countries through the Baltic Sea, particularly now that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is being reduced due to the conflict.

Germany rejected Russia’s technical explanation for last month’s reduction in gas flowing through the pipeline, arguing that the decision was a calculated political move to create doubt and further drive up energy prices, The Independent reported.

Nord Stream 1 has been completely shut down since Monday for its annual maintenance, which will last until July 21, according to The Wall Street Journal. German officials are worried that Russia might not start up its gas pipelines at all and suggested that it might use some other technical excuse to continually shut off gas supplies to western Europe.

Germany halted the launch of the newest pipeline, Nord Stream 2, as part of their sanctions against Moscow, Reuters reported. The Federal Network Agency, which regulates Germany’s electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway sectors suspended the certification process in November, saying Nord Stream 2 must register as a legal entity in Germany.

Gazprom did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s Foundation’s request for comment.