Major gas pipeline Nord Stream 1 to shut for three days, placing pressure on E.U. fuel supplies
Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region, state energy giant Gazprom said
FRANKFURT/BERLIN — Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region, state energy giant Gazprom said on Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.
The unscheduled maintenance order on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels which has already helped send inflation surging in the region and raised the risk of rationing and recession.
Gazprom said the three-day shutdown was because the pipeline’s only remaining gas compressor requires maintenance, yet the move will bring further disruption particularly for Germany, which depends largely on deliveries from Moscow to power its industry.
The latest shut-down follows a 10-day scheduled annual maintenance that took place in July, and raised fears over whether Russia would resume supplies, which have been reduced since mid-June.
Germany has already had to give Uniper — its largest importer of Russian gas and the highest-profile corporate victim of Europe’s energy crisis so far — a 15 billion euro ($15.1 billion) bailout after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing it to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.
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