According to Gazprom’s July 14 letter, Reuters saw Monday and found that Gazprom had declared force majeure over gas supplies to Europe to at most one major customer.
Gazprom, having a monopoly over Russian gas exports via pipeline, was informed in a letter that it could not fulfil its supply obligations due to “extraordinary” circumstances beyond its control.
The force majeure clause, which is a clause that is invoked when a company is struck by something beyond its control, was effective as of June 14th.
According to a trading source, the letter was about supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. This is a major supply route from Germany and other countries.
Gazprom did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
This will likely increase tensions between Russia, the West and Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow called it a “special military operation”.
Moscow has been sanctioned by the European Union. However, it wants to cease using Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
Russian gas supplies dropped via several major routes, including through Ukraine and Belarus and via Nord Stream 1 below the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream 1 is currently under maintenance
