#Europe #angry #reduced #gas #supplies #Russia
Russian Gaz giant Gazprom begins 10 days of routine maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday — while Germany and other European countries watch eagerly to see if the gas starts arriving again.
The annual work on the two pipelines was planned well in advance. However, there are fears that Gazprom could seize the opportunity to simply shut the valves as Russia-West relations are at their lowest in years due to the invasion of Ukraine.
“Putin will turn off the gas tap… but will he turn it on again one day?” German mass daily Bild asked on its website on Sunday.
“We are faced with an unprecedented situation – everything is possible,” said German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on public broadcaster at the weekend.
“It is possible that the gas will flow again, even at a higher volume than before.”
But, he warned, “there’s a chance nothing will get through and we still have to prepare for the worst” as Europe scrambles to move away from Russia for energy supplies.
– turbine series –
At least one problem was solved over the weekend when Canada agreed to return turbines needed to service the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany, despite Ukraine’s objections.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking through his spokesman on Sunday, welcomed “the decision of our Canadian friends” to grant Siemens Canada a temporary and revocable license to return the machine, as Ottawa called it.
Russia had insisted it needed the machine returned before it could restart deliveries after several weeks of severe cuts.
However, Ukraine last week accused Berlin of giving in to Russian “blackmail” after Moscow blamed repairs for reduced supplies, not market conditions caused by the Ukraine war.
Moscow had cut supplies by 60 percent in recent weeks, blaming the turbine’s absence, although Berlin denounced a “political” decision.
These cuts affected shipments to a number of EU countries, including Poland and Bulgaria, which halted shipments altogether.
Berlin has stated that for technical reasons it would be difficult for Gazprom to stop supplies via Nord Stream altogether.
“It’s not like a faucet” that you just turn on or off, says Habeck.
Nord Stream 1 is the world’s longest underwater pipeline, running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and has been in operation for a decade.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Germany suspended certification of a second pipeline, Nord Stream 2, amid growing fears over Europe’s massive reliance on Russian gas supplies.
But even now, a long-term shutdown of the pipeline would hit Germany and its EU neighbors hard, deepening an energy crisis where uncertain supplies have pushed up prices ahead of the European winter.
– ration anxiety –
Germany imports around 35 percent of its gas from Russia, compared to 55 percent before the Ukraine conflict broke out.
Nord Stream’s website notes that gas arriving in the German city of Lubmin will continue to be routed to Belgium, Denmark and France, as well as the UK and the Netherlands.
German industry is highly vulnerable to shortages and chemicals trading group VCI says it is preparing “for the worst”, with authorities discussing the possibility of rationing supplies.
If supplies stop altogether, German multinational chemicals group BASF is considering furloughing some of its roughly 100,000 employees.
And Klaus Müller, head of Germany’s energy regulator, warned: “If we run out of Russian gas … current supplies will only last for a month or two.”
On Thursday, parliament passed a plan to limit heating to a maximum of 20 degrees Celsius in winter and cut hot water supply in individual offices.
Habeck warned of “difficult social decisions”.
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