Russia Has Indefinitely Suspended The Nord Stream Gas Pipeline To Europe

State-owned Gazprom, which was due to resume operations on the Baltic Sea pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance, said the suspension was due to a technical fault. The move came hours after the G7 announced it was pushing ahead with a plan to try to impose a price cap on Russia’s oil exports as part of an effort to reduce revenue flowing to Moscow, which it can use to fund the war in Ukraine. It will heighten fears in European capitals that Russia intends to cut supplies further ahead of winter. Moscow has been accused of “tooling” its natural gas to fuel the cost-of-living crisis in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine. “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under false pretenses is yet another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier,” Eric Mummer, the European Commission’s chief spokesman, tweeted. “It is also a testament to Russia’s cynicism that it prefers to blow gas rather than honor contracts.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has made little effort to hide his aim to undermine Western sanctions and halt efforts by Ukraine’s allies to reduce their dependence on Moscow’s oil and gas exports. Gazprom had already reduced Nord Stream 1 capacity since June, limiting volumes to just 20% of normal levels and causing European gas prices to more than double. The company said the shutdown was due to an oil leak discovered in the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg, which powers the line that runs from the Baltic Sea to Germany. After jumping last week to an all-time high, gas prices in Europe have fallen in recent days, falling by a third to 209 euros per megawatt hour – although that is still about 10 times the average level of the past decade. Prices eased in part as the EU met its goal of filling storage facilities to 80% of capacity ahead of the winter heating season. However, natural gas reserves alone are insufficient to meet winter demand without normal Russian export flows. Germany and other major European economies aim to cut gas demand by 15 percent to avoid severe shortages, although they may still have to introduce rationing. Blackouts are a possibility. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia supplied about 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas demand. Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel, said the latest announcement was an indication that a winter with “zero Russian gas” should be seen as the central scenario for Europe. He added: “There is only one way to prepare for this: reducing demand for natural gas and electricity. This must be Europe’s main political priority.” EU member states are also seeking to diversify their natural gas supplies, including by buying more marine liquefied natural gas from countries including the US. A complete shutdown of Nord Stream leaves only two major pipeline routes supplying Russian gas to the EU: one through Ukraine and another through the Black Sea and through Turkey. A spokesman for the German economy ministry said it had already seen Russia’s unreliability as a supplier and that “as a result we are much better prepared than we were a few months ago”. “We will achieve our goal of winning [storage facilities] 85 percent full by October as early as the first days of September,” the ministry spokesman added. “We are also making good progress in finding alternative supply routes to Russian and building LNG import capacity.” EU energy ministers are due to meet in an emergency session in Brussels next Friday to further discuss their winter preparations, including ways to mitigate the impact of rising gas prices on electricity costs. In an internal policy paper this week, the Commission said member states could pass on a share of inflated profits made by electricity companies to consumers as part of a plan to absorb rising wholesale electricity prices in Europe. Additional reporting by Sam Fleming and Andy Bounds in Brussels

title: “Russia Has Indefinitely Suspended The Nord Stream Gas Pipeline To Europe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-27” author: “Carl Castaneda”

State-owned Gazprom, which was due to resume operations on the Baltic Sea pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance, said the suspension was due to a technical fault. The move came hours after the G7 announced it was pushing ahead with a plan to try to impose a price cap on Russia’s oil exports as part of an effort to reduce revenue flowing to Moscow, which it can use to fund the war in Ukraine. It will heighten fears in European capitals that Russia intends to cut supplies further ahead of winter. Moscow has been accused of “tooling” its natural gas to fuel the cost-of-living crisis in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine. “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under false pretenses is yet another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier,” Eric Mummer, the European Commission’s chief spokesman, tweeted. “It is also a testament to Russia’s cynicism that it prefers to blow gas rather than honor contracts.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has made little effort to hide his aim to undermine Western sanctions and halt efforts by Ukraine’s allies to reduce their dependence on Moscow’s oil and gas exports. Gazprom had already reduced Nord Stream 1 capacity since June, limiting volumes to just 20% of normal levels and causing European gas prices to more than double. The company said the shutdown was due to an oil leak discovered in the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg, which powers the line that runs from the Baltic Sea to Germany. After jumping last week to an all-time high, gas prices in Europe have fallen in recent days, falling by a third to 209 euros per megawatt hour – although that is still about 10 times the average level of the past decade. Prices eased in part as the EU met its goal of filling storage facilities to 80% of capacity ahead of the winter heating season. However, natural gas reserves alone are insufficient to meet winter demand without normal Russian export flows. Germany and other major European economies aim to cut gas demand by 15 percent to avoid severe shortages, although they may still have to introduce rationing. Blackouts are a possibility. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia supplied about 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas demand. Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel, said the latest announcement was an indication that a winter with “zero Russian gas” should be seen as the central scenario for Europe. He added: “There is only one way to prepare for this: reducing demand for natural gas and electricity. This must be Europe’s main political priority.” EU member states are also seeking to diversify their natural gas supplies, including by buying more marine liquefied natural gas from countries including the US. A complete shutdown of Nord Stream leaves only two major pipeline routes supplying Russian gas to the EU: one through Ukraine and another through the Black Sea and through Turkey. A spokesman for the German economy ministry said it had already seen Russia’s unreliability as a supplier and that “as a result we are much better prepared than we were a few months ago”. “We will achieve our goal of winning [storage facilities] 85 percent full by October as early as the first days of September,” the ministry spokesman added. “We are also making good progress in finding alternative supply routes to Russian and building LNG import capacity.” EU energy ministers are due to meet in an emergency session in Brussels next Friday to further discuss their winter preparations, including ways to mitigate the impact of rising gas prices on electricity costs. In an internal policy paper this week, the Commission said member states could pass on a share of inflated profits made by electricity companies to consumers as part of a plan to absorb rising wholesale electricity prices in Europe. Additional reporting by Sam Fleming and Andy Bounds in Brussels

title: “Russia Has Indefinitely Suspended The Nord Stream Gas Pipeline To Europe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-01” author: “Phillip Bogner”

State-owned Gazprom, which was due to resume operations on the Baltic Sea pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance, said the suspension was due to a technical fault. The move came hours after the G7 announced it was pushing ahead with a plan to try to impose a price cap on Russia’s oil exports as part of an effort to reduce revenue flowing to Moscow, which it can use to fund the war in Ukraine. It will heighten fears in European capitals that Russia intends to cut supplies further ahead of winter. Moscow has been accused of “tooling” its natural gas to fuel the cost-of-living crisis in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine. “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under false pretenses is yet another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier,” Eric Mummer, the European Commission’s chief spokesman, tweeted. “It is also a testament to Russia’s cynicism that it prefers to blow gas rather than honor contracts.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has made little effort to hide his aim to undermine Western sanctions and halt efforts by Ukraine’s allies to reduce their dependence on Moscow’s oil and gas exports. Gazprom had already reduced Nord Stream 1 capacity since June, limiting volumes to just 20% of normal levels and causing European gas prices to more than double. The company said the shutdown was due to an oil leak discovered in the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg, which powers the line that runs from the Baltic Sea to Germany. After jumping last week to an all-time high, gas prices in Europe have fallen in recent days, falling by a third to 209 euros per megawatt hour – although that is still about 10 times the average level of the past decade. Prices eased in part as the EU met its goal of filling storage facilities to 80% of capacity ahead of the winter heating season. However, natural gas reserves alone are insufficient to meet winter demand without normal Russian export flows. Germany and other major European economies aim to cut gas demand by 15 percent to avoid severe shortages, although they may still have to introduce rationing. Blackouts are a possibility. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia supplied about 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas demand. Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel, said the latest announcement was an indication that a winter with “zero Russian gas” should be seen as the central scenario for Europe. He added: “There is only one way to prepare for this: reducing demand for natural gas and electricity. This must be Europe’s main political priority.” EU member states are also seeking to diversify their natural gas supplies, including by buying more marine liquefied natural gas from countries including the US. A complete shutdown of Nord Stream leaves only two major pipeline routes supplying Russian gas to the EU: one through Ukraine and another through the Black Sea and through Turkey. A spokesman for the German economy ministry said it had already seen Russia’s unreliability as a supplier and that “as a result we are much better prepared than we were a few months ago”. “We will achieve our goal of winning [storage facilities] 85 percent full by October as early as the first days of September,” the ministry spokesman added. “We are also making good progress in finding alternative supply routes to Russian and building LNG import capacity.” EU energy ministers are due to meet in an emergency session in Brussels next Friday to further discuss their winter preparations, including ways to mitigate the impact of rising gas prices on electricity costs. In an internal policy paper this week, the Commission said member states could pass on a share of inflated profits made by electricity companies to consumers as part of a plan to absorb rising wholesale electricity prices in Europe. Additional reporting by Sam Fleming and Andy Bounds in Brussels

title: “Russia Has Indefinitely Suspended The Nord Stream Gas Pipeline To Europe Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Alice Stevenson”

State-owned Gazprom, which was due to resume operations on the Baltic Sea pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance, said the suspension was due to a technical fault. The move came hours after the G7 announced it was pushing ahead with a plan to try to impose a price cap on Russia’s oil exports as part of an effort to reduce revenue flowing to Moscow, which it can use to fund the war in Ukraine. It will heighten fears in European capitals that Russia intends to cut supplies further ahead of winter. Moscow has been accused of “tooling” its natural gas to fuel the cost-of-living crisis in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine. “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it is once again shutting down Nord Stream 1 under false pretenses is yet another confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier,” Eric Mummer, the European Commission’s chief spokesman, tweeted. “It is also a testament to Russia’s cynicism that it prefers to blow gas rather than honor contracts.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has made little effort to hide his aim to undermine Western sanctions and halt efforts by Ukraine’s allies to reduce their dependence on Moscow’s oil and gas exports. Gazprom had already reduced Nord Stream 1 capacity since June, limiting volumes to just 20% of normal levels and causing European gas prices to more than double. The company said the shutdown was due to an oil leak discovered in the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg, which powers the line that runs from the Baltic Sea to Germany. After jumping last week to an all-time high, gas prices in Europe have fallen in recent days, falling by a third to 209 euros per megawatt hour – although that is still about 10 times the average level of the past decade. Prices eased in part as the EU met its goal of filling storage facilities to 80% of capacity ahead of the winter heating season. However, natural gas reserves alone are insufficient to meet winter demand without normal Russian export flows. Germany and other major European economies aim to cut gas demand by 15 percent to avoid severe shortages, although they may still have to introduce rationing. Blackouts are a possibility. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia supplied about 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas demand. Simone Tagliapietra, senior fellow at think-tank Bruegel, said the latest announcement was an indication that a winter with “zero Russian gas” should be seen as the central scenario for Europe. He added: “There is only one way to prepare for this: reducing demand for natural gas and electricity. This must be Europe’s main political priority.” EU member states are also seeking to diversify their natural gas supplies, including by buying more marine liquefied natural gas from countries including the US. A complete shutdown of Nord Stream leaves only two major pipeline routes supplying Russian gas to the EU: one through Ukraine and another through the Black Sea and through Turkey. A spokesman for the German economy ministry said it had already seen Russia’s unreliability as a supplier and that “as a result we are much better prepared than we were a few months ago”. “We will achieve our goal of winning [storage facilities] 85 percent full by October as early as the first days of September,” the ministry spokesman added. “We are also making good progress in finding alternative supply routes to Russian and building LNG import capacity.” EU energy ministers are due to meet in an emergency session in Brussels next Friday to further discuss their winter preparations, including ways to mitigate the impact of rising gas prices on electricity costs. In an internal policy paper this week, the Commission said member states could pass on a share of inflated profits made by electricity companies to consumers as part of a plan to absorb rising wholesale electricity prices in Europe. Additional reporting by Sam Fleming and Andy Bounds in Brussels