14 Jun 2022 14:36

Gazprom to cut pumping via Nord Stream by 40% owing to Siemens delaying repairs and maintenance, gas prices exceed $1,000/1,000 cubic meters in EU

MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Gazprom is cutting gas pumping via Nord Stream by 40% owing to Siemens delaying repairs and maintenance to the compressors, Gazprom said in a statement.

Siemens announced a month ago that it would exit the Russian market, and it began the procedure for terminating its production and operations.

Gazprom has reported about Siemens "delaying the return" of gas-pumping units from repairs and maintenance that were conducted at factories outside Russia, as evidenced by previous reports from Siemens.

"Owing to the delay in Germany's Siemens returning the gas-pumping units from repair, the time between overhauls in the life of the GPUs, and identified technical malfunctions in the engines, and the Federal Environmental, Industrial, and Nuclear Supervision Service (Rostechnadzor) issuing an order for a temporary ban on activities, only three gas-pumping units can currently be used at the Portovaya CS," Gazprom said.

"Gas supplies via the Nord Stream gas pipeline can currently be provided at up to 100 million cubic meters per day versus the planned volume of 167 million cubic meters per day," the Russian company noted.

Based on this message, gas prices in Europe have risen by more than 14% to $1,012 per thousand cubic meters for July futures at the Dutch TTF gas hub on the ICE futures.

The Nord Stream Trans-Baltic gas pipeline is 1,224 kilometers long with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year and has been operating since 2011.

It is impossible to replace the dropped volume in supplies with Ukrainian gas, as Kyiv has limited the acceptance of Russian gas for transit owing to a force majeure. Russian sanctions have prohibited the use of capacity of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline through Poland.