The announcement of this decision risks reigniting fears of a shortage in Europe
Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be interrupted for three days, from August 31 to September 2, for “maintenance” reasons, Russian gas giant Gazprom announced on Friday.
“On August 31, 2022, the only Trent 60 gas compression unit will be shut down for three days for maintenance” which will be attended by Siemens technicians, Gazprom said in a statement.
Therefore, “the transport of gas through the Nord Stream pipeline will be suspended for three days”, he continued, saying that equipment maintenance was “necessary every 1,000 hours” of operation.
At the end of this period, deliveries will resume with a flow of 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, he said.
“At the end of this work and in the absence of technical malfunctions, gas deliveries will be restored to a level of 33 million m3 of gas per day,” Gazprom said.
The announcement of this decision risks rekindling fears of shortages in Europe, where Moscow is accused of energy blackmail.
Since Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow after the launch of its offensive against Ukraine, Russia has several times reduced its gas deliveries to Europe, which is heavily dependent on it.
Russia accounted for some 40% of EU gas imports until last year.
In recent weeks, Russia has justified these cuts by not returning a repaired Siemens turbine to Canada that Moscow presents as essential to the proper functioning of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
European countries accuse Moscow of delaying the return of this turbine to be able to claim a reduction in its deliveries and thus put pressure on them.
A halt in deliveries during a 10-day maintenance in July had raised concern among European countries, which have been struggling for months to diversify their supplies.