On Tuesday, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier Runacher alleged Russia of using gas as a weapon of war.
Russia has entirely stopped gas supplies to Europe through a major pipeline, saying repairs are required. The Russian state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, said the limitations on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would continue for the upcoming three days. Russia has so far greatly decreased gas exports through the pipeline.
It rejects allegations of using energy supplies as a weapon of war against Western nations. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline extends 1,200 km beneath the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast close to St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany.
It started in 2011 and can transfer a maximum of 170 million cubic metres of gas per day from Russia to Germany. According to Russia, the pipeline was closed for 10 days in July for repairs.
It has currently been functioning at only 20% capacity due to what Russia defines as broken equipment. The president of Germany’s network regulator has said the nation will be able to survive if Russia reopens delivery in the next few days.
“I believe that we will be able to survive with it,” Klaus Mueller said in a statement to Reuters. “I believe that Russia will recover to 20% on Saturday. However, no one can say,” he added.
Leaders allege Russia is using gas as a weapon of war
European leaders doubt that Russia could continue the disruption in an attempt to pump up gas prices, which have so far increased in the last year. But, today’s decision was not supposed to affect prices directly.
The UK’s primary natural gas price was down by more than 15% on markets on Wednesday. The sharp increase threatens to drive up the cost of living throughout the winter season.
On Tuesday, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier Runacher alleged Russia of using gas as a weapon of war. She was talking after Gazprom said it would shut down gas deliveries to the French energy company Engie.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson has denied the allegations and said that Western sanctions have created disruptions by harming Russian infrastructure. He claimed that technological issues caused by sanctions were the sole thing stopping Russia from supplying gas through the pipeline, without defining what the issues were.
The latest dispute has been over a turbine that entered Germany after being repaired in Canada and which Russia denied taking back, claiming it was subject to western sanctions. But Germany rejects this.
Previously this month, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the pipeline was perfectly functional and said there were no technical problems as stated by Russia.
Previously this week, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to intrude into energy markets, revealing at a conference in Slovenia that they are no longer fit for purpose. “We require a new market for electricity that actually operates and carries us back into balance,” she said.
Before the dispute, Germany had helped, although not certified, the €10bn Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which operates parallel to its namesake but stopped functioning after Russia sent soldiers into Ukraine in February.
The previous week, the BBC disclosed that Russia has been burning off an approximate $ 10 million worth of gas each day at a plant near the Finnish border.
