Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022.
Hannibal Hänschke | R
The operator of Nord Stream 1, a key gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany, said Thursday it was about to resume flows to Europe.
There were concerns across the region that gas supplies from the pipeline could be completely halted after it closed for maintenance earlier this month. The flows should be restored on Thursday after the work is completed.
A Nord Stream spokesman confirmed via email to CNBC that the company is “about to resume gas transportation.”
“It may take a few hours to reach the nominated transport volumes,” they added.
Data on operator Nord Stream’s website showed that flows rose from zero to 29,284,591 kWh/h between 06:00 and 07:00 CET on Thursday. On July 10, the last day of operation before maintenance began, flows were roughly at the same level, just over 29,000,000 kWh/h.
It’s likely a welcome relief to European officials who have been scrambling to find alternative suppliers of Russian gas.
Germany and the EU in general have been dependent on Russian fossil fuels for years, and there has been a widespread attempt to reverse this in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Since March, the EU has been negotiating new gas deals with the United States and Azerbaijan and holding talks with Israel and Qatar.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said on Wednesday that Russia is blackmailing Europe and using energy as a weapon. Russia has repeatedly denied it is arming fossil fuel supplies and the Kremlin was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Thursday.
Despite reports that flows have started again, the EU will continue to press ahead with contingency plans in the event of a complete halt to gas supplies from Russia. The Commission has told the 27 EU countries that they must reduce their gas consumption by 15% by March to save energy.
Von der Leyen said it was likely that the Kremlin would stop gas supplies to Europe altogether.
This is breaking news and will be updated shortly.