- Gazprom to shut down another turbine in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, reducing flow by half.
- Europe has warned that Russia could cut off gas flows this winter, sending Germany into recession.
- Russia supplies approximately 40% of Europe’s gas and 30% of its oil.
Russia’s Gazprom announced on Monday that it would shut down another turbine in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, reducing the flow of gas by half starting on Wednesday.
The new supply blow comes at a time when Russia and the West are exchanging economic blows in response to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. The European Union has accused Russia of using energy blackmail, while the Kremlin claims that the gas outage is due to maintenance issues and the impact of Western sanctions.
Gazprom said Wednesday that throughput would drop to 33 million cubic metres per day, or half of the current, already reduced supply.
Politicians in Europe have repeatedly warned that Russia could cut off gas flows this winter, sending Germany into recession and causing soaring prices for consumers who are already dealing with higher food and energy prices.
This month, President Vladimir Putin warned the West that continued sanctions risked causing catastrophic energy price increases for consumers worldwide.
Russia is the world’s second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, as well as the world’s largest natural gas exporter. Russia supplies approximately 40% of Europe’s gas and 30% of its oil.
After a 10-day maintenance break, Gazprom resumed gas flows through Nord Stream 1 last week, but only at 40% of the pipeline’s capacity — a level Russia said it was forced to lower volumes to in June due to the delayed return of a turbine being serviced in Canada.
European politicians challenged that explanation, with Germany saying the turbine in question was not supposed to be used until September.
