Gazprom, Russia’s state energy company, stated late on Friday that natural gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 would be cut off following the discovery of engine oil in the main gas turbine at Portovaya compressor station near St Petersburg during a joint inspection by Siemens Energy.
The turbine was unable to operate safely until the leak is repaired. There was no timeline for the return of gas supply via the pipeline. It had been scheduled to resume operation on Saturday morning after a three-day maintenance break.
#EU warned ‘Increasingly likely’ #Russia will cut off gas supplies completely. #Gazprom this week said that three-day maintenance of the Portovaya compressor station would last from Aug. 31, 0100 GMT (0300 CET) until Sept. 3, 0100 GMT (0300 CET). https://t.co/q2ZUeGHccN via https://t.co/wmNsaExV1o pic.twitter.com/cPRlDQ0ZKM
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) September 2, 2022
Gazprom stated in Telegram that representatives from Siemens signed the report on oil leak detection.
Gazprom quoted Siemens saying that repairs needed could only be made in “speciality workshops”.
Gazprom released a Telegram statement stating that it had provided a photograph showing oil leaking from compressor stations.
Nord Stream 1, which runs beneath the Baltic Sea to supply Germany with gas, was operating at 20% capacity before flow halts were made for three days this week.
Gazprom claims that European Union sanctions have caused technical problems which prevented it from being able to supply the entire volume of contracted gas through its pipeline.
Siemens Energy denies this claim and claims that there are no legal barriers to maintaining the pipeline.
