Russia set to mothball damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines: Reuters sources
MOSCOW/FRANKFURT –
This content material was produced in Russia, the place the legislation restricts protection of Russian navy operations in Ukraine
Russia’s ruptured undersea Nord Stream fuel pipelines are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are not any quick plans to restore or reactivate them, sources aware of the plans have informed Reuters.
Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, every consisting of two pipes, have been constructed by Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom to pump 110 billion cubic meters (bcm) of pure fuel a yr to Germany below the Baltic Sea.
Three of the pipes have been ruptured by unexplained blasts in September, and one of many Nord Stream 2 pipes stays intact.
But hovering tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had by then already introduced Nord Stream 1 to a standstill and prevented its twin, criticized by Washington and Kyiv for growing Germany’s dependence on Russia, ever coming on-line.
Gazprom has stated it’s technically potential to restore the ruptured traces, however two sources aware of plans stated Moscow noticed little prospect of relations with the West bettering sufficient within the foreseeable future for the pipelines to be wanted.
Europe has drastically minimize its vitality imports from Russia over the previous yr, whereas the state-controlled Gazprom’s exports outdoors the previous Soviet Union virtually halved in 2022 to succeed in a post-Soviet low of 101 bcm.
One Russian supply stated Russia noticed the challenge as “buried.” Two others stated that, whereas there was no plan to restore the ruptured pipelines, they might at the very least be conserved for potential reactivation sooner or later.
Another supply aware of the plans confirmed that the stakeholders are contemplating conservation.
This would almost definitely imply sealing the ruptured ends and placing a coating into the pipes to forestall additional corrosion from seawater.
One of the Russian sources stated that, if the seaborne liquefied pure fuel (LNG) from the United States that Europe is utilizing to offset a few of its Russian provides grew to become way more costly, Europe would possibly once more be prepared to purchase extra from Russia.
Moscow’s Energy Ministry referred inquiries to the pipeline operators, however neither they nor Gazprom replied to requests for remark.
Engie, Gasunie and Wintershall DEA – stakeholders in Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream 1 – declined to remark.
A spokesperson for Germany’s E.ON, which additionally owns a stake in Nord Stream AG, stated: “To our knowledge as a minority shareholder, no decision has been made, either for or against restoring the line.”
WHO BLEW UP THE PIPELINES?
Moscow has maintained, with out offering proof, that the West was behind the blasts. Last month the White House dismissed as “complete fiction” a weblog put up by U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh alleging that Washington was accountable.
Investigations by Denmark, Germany and Sweden haven’t but concluded.
Nord Stream 1 had anyway been idle since late August when it was shut for upkeep, however by no means restarted as Russia and the West argued in regards to the servicing of a pumping turbine amid Western sanctions.
The similar-sized Nord Stream 2 had been accomplished in September 2021 as tensions with Russia have been rising and ran in bother as Germany’s regulators refused to certify it. Berlin then froze the challenge days earlier than Moscow despatched its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24 final yr.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed utilizing the undamaged hyperlink of Nord Stream 2 to pump fuel however Germany, now eager to finish its reliance on Russia, rejected the concept. Poland has additionally stopped shopping for Russian fuel.
Russia is at the moment exporting solely round 40 million cubic meters per day of pipeline fuel to Europe, through Sudzha on the border between Ukraine and Slovakia.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Friday that Moscow, which hopes to arrange a fuel hub in Turkey to switch the Baltic route, would now not depend on the West as an vitality associate.
Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova in Moscow; Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt, Benjamin Mallet in Paris, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; Editing by Kevin Liffey
