Russian gas supplies resume to Europe through Nord Stream 1 pipeline

The resumption of natural gas comes amid fears Vladimir Putin will cut European supplies

The landfall facility of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Russia has resumed natural gas supplies to Europe after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance, operator Nord Stream AG said.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany had been closed since July 11 for annual repair work amid feverish speculation Vladimir Putin was set to cut Europe off from natural gas in retaliation for Western sanctions over Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The gas flows resumed at 6am on Thursday morning but were expected to fall far below the pipeline’s full capacity, the operator said.

Klaus Mueller, the head of Germany’s regulator, said that Russia’s state-owned Gazprom informed them that deliveries would only be around a third - 30 per cent - of the pipeline’s capacity.

Gazprom had already been cutting the supply of gas to Europe over the preceding months and in mid-June cut the flow to 40 per cent of capacity in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

It cited alleged technical problems involving equipment that partner Siemens Energy sent to Canada for overhaul and couldn’t be returned because of sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The German government has rejected Gazprom’s technical explanation for the gas reduction, saying repeatedly that it was only a pretext for a political decision to sow uncertainty and further push up energy prices.

The resumption of natural gas flows on Thursday will do little to quell fears that Putin will use Europe’s dependence on Russia for energy as leverage during his country’s continued assault on Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed that member countries cut their gas use by 15 per cent over the coming months in response to these concerns.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of “blackmailing us”. She said on Wednesday: “Russia is using energy as a weapon. And therefore, in any event, whether it’s a partial major cut-off of Russian gas or total cut-off of Russian gas, Europe needs to be ready.”

Many European states rely on Russia for a large percentage of their gas. Germany, the continent’s larges economy needs natural gas to power its industries, provide heating and, to some extent, generate electricity.

Last month, the government activated the second phase of Germany’s three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supplies, warning that Europe’s biggest economy faced a “crisis” and winter storage targets were at risk.

Additional reporting by AP