Nord Stream gas pipeline halts for scheduled maintenance, transit via Ukraine at same level
MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) - Nord Stream, a.k.a. Nord Stream 1, the main pipeline for supplying Russian gas to Europe, has halted for scheduled maintenance, according to current data from European gas-transmission operators.
The pipeline continued to supply gas at the level of previous periods during the first two hours of the new gas day.
The maintenance and repairs should last until the morning of July 21 according to the schedule.
As a rule, maintenance with a full shutdown of operations is carried out at the facilities of the gas industry once a year. Preventative shutdowns are synchronized throughout the gas production and logistics chain, from the field to the end consumer. The schedule is coordinated by gas transmission operators of many countries, including producers, consumers, and transit countries. The timing of maintenance repairs was published in September last year and has not changed since then.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline began operations in 2011. In 2021, the main pipeline transported 59.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Gazprom , Wintershall Dea, Gasunie, E.ON and Engie, are the project participants.
The Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) has accepted a booking from Gazprom for Monday to pump 41.1 million cubic meters of gas through the country compared to 40.1 mcm on Sunday, GTSOU data indicate, with capacity pumping through only the Sudzha metering station, one of two entry points into the GTSOU, and no pumping via the Sokhranivka metering station.
"Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine at the volume confirmed by the Ukraine side via the Sudzha metering station at 39.4 million cubic meters on July 11, with booking via the Sokhranivka metering station declined," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov to reporters.
POLITICS
Never before has such a routine event generated so much attention and concern amid the Western sanctions imposed against Russia and speculation about where they could lead.
The Financial Times wrote that, "the German government is concerned that Russia could take advantage of the annual maintenance of its main gas export pipeline to cut off gas supplies to the country completely, raising the risk of a winter energy crisis in Europe's largest economy."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on this version by saying that, "I would be lying if I said that I were not concerned about this. However, assumptions about what could happen and when do not make any sense."
WHO SUFFERS FROM SANCTIONS?
Nord Stream is currently operating at 40% capacity, because one of the pipeline's turbines has not returned from the major overhaul at the plant in Montreal owing to Canadian sanctions.
Gazprom CEO and executive board chairman Alexei Miller last month at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2022 described the situation in detail, saying that, "Any gas turbine engine has a time between overhauls, after which it must be sent to the plant for major maintenance and repairs. It turns out that Siemens has only one plant where these engines can be repaired, and it is in Canada. Regarding Gazprom, only one country has imposed sanctions, and this is Canada. The engine is at the factory. The engine cannot be taken from the Siemens factory. This is not a sanction confusion, nor is it someone's absolutely purposeful decision."
Upon Berlin's request, Ottawa has issued permission for the turbine's return to Russia, and Siemens has said that its aim is to deliver the engine to Russia as soon as possible. However, at the Portovaya compressor station, which is the starting compressor station of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, the time between overhauls before major maintenance and repairs of other engines has ended.
"However, other engines are coming up and have already come up - not all of them, there are still some left, - for the time when they need to be overhauled. However, they cannot be sent to Canada anymore; and they cannot be sent to any other plant either," Miller reminded.
No market failure happens alone. A week before the forced reduction in the volume of transportation through Nord Stream 1, the United States' Freeport LNG plant failed. In July, Norwegian oil workers went on strike to demand higher wages. These factors pushed up gas prices in Europe last week to nearly $2,000 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The decline in gas supplies has already forced Germany's largest energy company, Uniper, to apply for government support; and the chemical concern BASF is on the verge of reducing or closing part of its production facilities owing to a shortage in raw materials.