Gazprom announces indefinite closure of Nord Stream 1

The energy giant cited technical problems for the decision

Gazprom has today announced it will extend the closure of Nord Stream 1 without providing a date that operations of the gas pipeline could restart.

On Wednesday, gas flows through the pipeline were halted due to maintenance work – the company had stressed that the shutdown would last just three days until Saturday morning.

In a statement, Gazprom stated: “During scheduled maintenance works at the Trent 60 gas compressor unit of the Portovaya CS which were carried out jointly with Siemens, it was discovered that there is a leakage of oil with a sealing compound in it that has reached the terminal connections in the cable lines serving the low-pressure and intermediate-pressure rotor speed sensors.”

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports around 55 million cubic metres of gas a year from Russia to Germany – in recent months, however, Russia has cut gas flows through the pipeline to 20% of its capacity.

Gazprom added: “Gas transmission via the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been fully shut down until the operational defects in the equipment are eliminated.”

Earlier today, G7 finance ministers announced the implementation of a price cap on Russian oil exports. 

In a statement, Siemens Energy said: “We are aware of the latest reports. As the manufacturer of the turbines, we can only state that such a finding is not a technical reason for stopping operation.

“Such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site. It is a routine procedure during maintenance work. In the past, the occurrence of this type of leakage has also not resulted in a shutdown of operations.

“Siemens Energy is currently not contracted for maintenance work, but is standing by. Irrespective of this, we have already pointed out several times that there are enough additional turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for Nord Stream 1 to operate.”

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