Today, Thursday, July 21 (2022), Russian gas began flowing again to Europe as soon as maintenance operations were completed on Nord Stream 1 after an interruption of about 10 days.
According to the data, Russia resumed pumping gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline early in the morning of Thursday, July 21 (2022), and this helped calm European concerns about supplies during the winter, especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to reduce or stop supplies.
Supplies from Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were halted for maintenance on July 11 (2022), but Russian gas exports from the pipeline have declined in recent months, and flows have fallen to 40% in June (2022).
The pipeline operator data showed that flows returned to their normal level (40%) before stopping for 10 days, according to what was monitored by the specialized energy platform.
Line Playback
According to the data, Russian gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany have resumed, and eastward gas flows through the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany have also increased.
The pipeline accounts for more than a third of Russian gas exports to the European Union.
The head of the network’s regulator in Germany, Klaus Muller, said that the resumption of flows at 40% was not a sign to calm the prevailing tension.
“Unfortunately, political uncertainty and a 60% drop in flows since mid-June (2022) remains,” he said in a tweet on Twitter.
Blackmail Europe
On Wednesday 20 July (2022), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia is blackmailing Europe and using energy as a weapon, adding that Europe now must prepare for the worst.
In an effort to avoid a supply crunch during the winter season, the European Commission has proposed reducing gas use by 15% from August (2022) to March (2023), compared to consumption during the same period from 2016 to 2021.
While the Kremlin responded that Moscow was a reliable supplier of energy, it blamed sanctions for lower flows.
Russia’s Gazprom had reduced Russian gas exports in June (2022) to 40%, and claimed that the reason was due to the delay in the return of a repaired pipeline turbine from Canada.
The turbine’s return was reported this week, but the Russian company said on Wednesday, July 20 (2022), that flows could be reduced or stopped due to the quality of the equipment.
NordStream
Nord Stream AG showed that the flows were at 29 million 289 thousand and 682 kWh by 04:00-05:00 GMT , compared to none previously.
According to data from German pipeline operator Gascad; Exit flows at the Malno measurement point on the German border were 3,911,76 kWh today, Thursday, July 21 (2022), up from 3 million kWh the previous day.
Gazprom said gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine through the Sudga entry point amounted to 42.2 million cubic meters on Thursday, July 21 (2022), up from 40.1 million cubic meters the day before.
The Russian company added that Ukraine had rejected a request to supply gas through the Sukhranovka entry point.
Delivery Of Russian Gas To Europe
In a related development, Uniper, the largest importer of Russian gas in Germany, said today, Thursday, July 21 (2022), that Russia has delivered nearly 40% of the agreed quantities of gas under the contracts.
The company had been hit by Russian supply cuts; They have to buy from alternative sources at exorbitant prices.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Eni revealed that it would receive about 36 million cubic meters of gas from Russia’s Gazprom, up from 21 million cubic meters per day.
Prior to that, Eni said it had received a supply of 32 million cubic meters per day.
This comes at a time when Italy is trying to get rid of its dependence on Russian gas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February (2022), and increase its reserves for the winter.
Source: XglobalMarkets
