Officials question motives for Russia’s gas pipeline halt

(Reuters) – Russia stated on Friday it discovered leaks throughout upkeep on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that provides pure gasoline to Europe and can maintain it shut for an undisclosed interval.

Flows won’t resume till all faults are rectified, Russia stated in an announcement, a worrisome growth for Germany and different nations, hoping to construct gasoline shares earlier than winter.

Nord Stream 1 operator Gazprom had shut the road on Aug. 29 for 3 days of upkeep, and was attributable to resume flows to Germany on Saturday. The Russian state firm stated it discovered an oil leak that meant a pipeline turbine couldn’t run safely.

The upkeep shutoff was a pretext, stated Brussels, which accused Russia of utilizing gasoline as an financial weapon to retaliate for Europe’s assist of Ukraine. A repaired turbine readied for Gazprom has been caught in Germany.

COMMENTS:

MICHAEL ROTH, CHAIR OF THE GERMAN PARLIAMENTARY FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

“That is a part of Russia’s psychological conflict in opposition to us,” he tweeted. “Putin violates contracts with out scruples, turns the gasoline faucet on and off, even on the expense of his personal financial pursuits. Nord Stream 2 will not assist with this, solely vitality transition and vitality diversification.”

CONNOR MCLEAN, SENIOR ENERGY ANALYST AT BTU ANALYTICS, A FACTSET COMPANY

“Europe is on tempo to enter this winter in a extra advantageous storage place than in 2021, however storage alone won’t be sufficient to get via the winter. Demand will virtually actually have to be curtailed if Nord Stream stays offline for a major time period.

“There may be additionally a threat that U.S. LNG exports can be decreased within the coming months as hurricane exercise begins to develop within the Atlantic and as services must go offline for routine upkeep.”

ERIC MAMER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON

“Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it’s as soon as once more shutting down Nord Stream 1 below fallacious pretenses is one other affirmation of its unreliability as a provider,” he stated in a tweet.

“It’s additionally proof of Russia’s cynicism, because it prefers to flare gasoline as an alternative of honoring contracts.”

JOSH YOUNG, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, BISON INTERESTS, HOUSTON

“It looks like Russia is attempting to pressure gasoline costs excessive sufficient that oil is used for energy and warmth technology” as an alternative of gasoline, he stated. “It is income maximizing for them to have excessive TTF & JKM costs and excessive oil costs,” he added, referring to European and Asian gasoline worth indexes by the acronyms.

ANDREW LIPOW, PRESIDENT OF LIPOW OIL ASSOCIATES, HOUSTON

“It’s only going to cement Europe’s bitter divorce from Russian vitality provides over subsequent couple of years and additional Europe’s want to place in place infrastructure services to wean themselves off of Russian gasoline.

“Within the close to time period there actually can be a worth to pay on the a part of the buyer, paying extra for pure gasoline and electrical energy in Europe. However I believe that is additionally going to harden the resolve of the European Union to decrease their dependence on Russian vitality provides.

“There could also be short-term achieve for Russia, particularly politically if this leads to social unrest in Europe, however the blame goes to be pointed on Russia and in the long run that might have a critical detrimental impact.”

(Reporting by Liz Hampton, Stephanie Kelly; Modifying by Richard Chang)