According to several news agencies, the Russian energy company Gazprom has announced that it will not be able to send gas to Europe via Nord Stream 1 until a leak is repaired. It is said to be an oil leak at the Portovaya compressor station, which is located on the Baltic Sea.
The compressor station has been shut down in recent days due to maintenance work, which was supposed to be completed on Saturday. Gazprom has not given any timeframe for when normal operation can be expected again.
The maintenance work was started on Wednesday morning at short notice, and this is not the first time that the connection has been closed for repairs.
It was also closed in July after the Russian authorities warned that due to sanctions against Russia, it would not be possible to obtain the necessary spare parts.
Since then, Nord Stream 1 has not been at full capacity, and for a while it was down to delivering only 20 percent. of maximum output.
Higher energy prices may be on the way
The fact that the gas pipeline is now closed indefinitely could add to the already sky-high energy prices. This is the assessment of John Brottemsmo, an energy analyst at Kinect Energy, an energy company.
- It is relatively dramatic. If there is no clarity over the weekend about when the gas pipeline will reopen, the markets will react by sending prices skyrocketing, he tells the Norwegian media E24.
The Danish Energy Agency would not comment on the situation on Friday evening.
Nord Stream 1 was inaugurated in 2011 and is a 1,224-kilometer-long gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. From Germany, the gas is delivered to other parts of Europe.
/ritzau/
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