Repairs to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — which carries 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany — are expected to give the Kremlin an opportunity to show how dependent Europe is on Russian gas. An extended shutdown would also undoubtedly highlight the hypocrisy of the sanctions – which exempt Russian gas – which have mostly meant that Russia actually earns more from fuel exports than it has in the past decade. Russia’s Gazprom also abruptly cut the flow of natural gas to Italy by a third on Monday, citing unscheduled repair work, meaning one of its backup pipelines for scheduled Nord Stream maintenance is also running dry. Summer flows of natural gas are largely used to fill tanks for the winter months, which were depleted after Russian exports fell when the war in Ukraine broke out. Russia also completely cut off Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands after those countries refused to pay for gas in rubles. Energy experts across Europe have warned for weeks that the sanctions give the Kremlin an incentive to further weaponize Europe’s unbalanced dependence on Russian fuel. The bloc’s biggest importers, Germany and Italy, have launched plans to reduce their dependence on Russian gas, but neither country can effectively do so before 2023. Canada, which has yet to return a Nord Stream turbine it was repairing before the Russian invasion, angered Ukraine over the weekend when it said it would waive the repair and return it to keep Europe’s natural gas online. Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s natural resources minister, said over the weekend that he had issued a “limited and revocable permit” for the turbine’s return to further strengthen “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as it continues to move away from Russian oil. and natural gas.” Ukraine’s defense minister on Sunday condemned the decision to return the turbine, saying Canada was “tailoring the sanctions regime to Russia’s whims.” All eyes will be on the Nord Stream pipeline on July 21 when it is supposed to come back online, but Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said they are preparing for the possibility that Russia will find excuses to stop the flow. “We are facing an unprecedented situation,” he said over the weekend. “Everything is possible.”
title: “See How Putin Is Squeezing Europe By The Balls " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Donald Brown”
The spigot on Europe’s largest natural gas pipeline that carries Russian gas to the bloc was shut at 6 a.m. on Monday for ten days of maintenance, and almost no one believes it will be reactivated as planned. Repairs to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — which carries 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany — are expected to give the Kremlin an opportunity to show how dependent Europe is on Russian gas. An extended shutdown would also undoubtedly highlight the hypocrisy of the sanctions – which exempt Russian gas – which have mostly meant that Russia actually earns more from fuel exports than it has in the past decade. Russia’s Gazprom also abruptly cut the flow of natural gas to Italy by a third on Monday, citing unscheduled repair work, meaning one of its backup pipelines for scheduled Nord Stream maintenance is also running dry. Putin in Europe: Pay for your gas in rubles or we’ll cut you off Summer flows of natural gas are largely used to fill tanks for the winter months, which were depleted after Russian exports fell when the war in Ukraine broke out. Russia also completely cut off Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands after those countries refused to pay for gas in rubles. Energy experts across Europe have warned for weeks that the sanctions give the Kremlin an incentive to further weaponize Europe’s unbalanced dependence on Russian fuel. The bloc’s biggest importers, Germany and Italy, have launched plans to reduce their dependence on Russian gas, but neither country can effectively do so before 2023. Canada, which has yet to return a Nord Stream turbine it was repairing before the Russian invasion, angered Ukraine over the weekend when it said it would waive the repair and return it to keep Europe’s natural gas online. Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s natural resources minister, said over the weekend that he had issued a “limited and revocable permit” for the turbine’s return to further strengthen “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as it continues to move away from Russian oil. and natural gas.” Ukraine’s defense minister on Sunday condemned the decision to return the turbine, saying Canada was “tailoring the sanctions regime to Russia’s whims.” The story continues All eyes will be on the Nord Stream pipeline on July 21 when it is supposed to come back online, but Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said they are preparing for the possibility that Russia will find excuses to stop the flow. “We are facing an unprecedented situation,” he said over the weekend. “Everything is possible.” Read more at The Daily Beast. Do you have a tip? Submit it to The Daily Beast here Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scandals and scandals straight to your inbox. Register now. Stay informed and get unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unparalleled reporting. Register now.
