Exclusive: Russia is preparing to damage the Nord Stream gas pipelines – #Exclusive #Russia #preparing #damage #Nord #Stream #gas #pipelines
MOSCOW/FRANKFURT, March 3 (Reuters) – Russia’s exploded Nord Stream submarine, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. gas the belts will be sealed and sealed as there are no plans to repair or relaunch them.
Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, each consisting of two pipelines, will be carried by Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom under the Baltic Sea to Germany at 110 km per year. billion cubic meter (bcm) natural gas built to transport.
Three of the pipes were ruptured by unknown explosions in September, while one of the Nord Stream 2 pipes remains intact.
But rising tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine had by then halted Nord Stream 1, and as Germany grew more dependent on Russia, Washington and Kyiv criticized by prevented his twin from going online.
Gazprom has said it is technically possible to repair the broken lines, but two sources with knowledge of the plans said Moscow does not see any prospect of significant improvement in relations with the West in the near future.
Latest UpdatesStoragecategoryOil boosts hopes on China demand, posts weekly earnings, pictorial articleGrid and InfrastructurecategoryEIA crude oil mix, USA blames underreported mining for high corrections in data, pictorial article
See 2 more stories
Europe It has sharply reduced its energy imports from Russia over the past year, while state-controlled Gazprom’s ( GAZP.MM ) exports outside the former Soviet Union will almost halve in 2022 to a minimum of 101 in the post-Soviet space. billion has reached cubic meters.
One of the Russian sources said that Russia he saw this project as “buried”. Two others said that while there were no plans to repair the broken pipelines, they would at least be conserved for possible future reactivation.
Another source familiar with the plans confirmed that interested parties are considering the safeguard.
This likely means sealing broken ends and coating the pipes to prevent further corrosion from seawater.
Russia one of the sources said that Europe Russia part of their supplies substitute which he used to do USAfrom the sea way liquefied natural transported with gas If (LNG) becomes more expensive, Europe may be willing to buy more from Russia again.
Moscow’s Energy Ministry referred questions to pipeline operators, but neither they nor Gazprom responded to requests for comment.
Stakeholders Engie ( ENGIE.PA ), Gasunie ( GSUNI.UL ) and Wintershall DEA ( WINT.UL ) ( BASFn.DE ) – Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream 1 – declined to comment. A spokesman for Germany’s E.ON ( EONGn.DE ), which also owns a stake in Nord Stream AG, said: “As far as we know, no decision has been made for or against resuming the line as a minority shareholder.”
WHO BROKE THE PIPE BELTS?
Moscow claimed that the West was behind the explosions without providing evidence. Last month, the White House American investigative journalist Seymour Hershin called the blog post claiming Washington was responsible a “complete fabrication.”
The investigations of Denmark, Germany and Sweden have not yet been concluded.
Nord Stream 1 has been operational since late August anyway, when it was shut down for maintenance, but was never restarted as Russia and the West sparred over servicing the pump turbine amid Western sanctions.
The similarly sized Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021 as tensions with Russia rose and German regulators refused to approve it. Days before Moscow sent its armed forces to Ukraine on February 24 last year, Berlin froze the project.
Russian President Vladimir Putin to use the intact passage of Nord Stream 2 to transport gas offer but Germany, which now wants to end its dependence on Russia, rejected this idea. Poland also stopped buying Russian gas.
Currently Russia Ukraine It exports a total of 40 million cubic meters of gas per day to Europe through Sudja on the border with Slovakia.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that the Baltic route substitute Moscow, hoping to build a gas hub in Turkey, will no longer rely on the West as an energy partner.
Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova in Moscow reporting; Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt, Benjamin Mallet in Paris, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; Edited by Kevin Liffey
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-04 01:36:26
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”