Nord Stream: Top Russian pipeline restarts supplying gas to Europe
After a 10-day maintenance pause, Russia has resumed sending gas to Europe through its largest pipeline, Nord Stream 1.
Moscow’s potential failure to restart the flow in reaction to EU sanctions related to the war in Ukraine had been feared.
In case Russia cut off Europe’s supply, the European Commission advised nations on Wednesday to reduce gas use by 15% over the ensuing seven months.
Last year, 40% of Europe’s natural gas came from Russia.
Germany was the biggest importer on the continent in 2020, but it now only depends on Russian gas 35% of the time. At some point, it aims to completely quit utilizing Russian gas.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has made an effort to allay concerns by assuring reporters that the nation’s gas company, Gazprom, will adhere to all of its contractual responsibilities.
Early on Thursday morning, the pipeline started up again, but a spokeswoman said that it was only providing 40% of its maximum capacity.
It is currently running at the same level as it did in the middle of June, when Gazprom shut off gas supplies and attributed the cut to a delay in the equipment’s return from Siemens Energy in Germany.
Jenny Hill, a correspondent for Bbc in Berlin, said the following
Although at a slower rate, the gas is once more flowing.
Vladimir Putin is not widely trusted in Berlin or any other European capital to provide the energy that Germany, in particular, depends so heavily upon.
Ministers in this country are painfully aware that the nation does not now have enough gas in storage to go through the winter as Europe swelters during a heatwave.
Despite a commitment to phase out coal power, they are advising citizens to save energy, rushing to acquire supplies of liquefied natural gas from other nations, and even restarting outdated coal power plants.
Industry leaders have cautioned that a gas shortage, which would eventually result in rationing, might start a recession.
Vladimir Putin, who wants to cause political and economic upheaval in the West, would be delighted by that.
