Russia on Monday cut off Europe’s herbal fuel source via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for scheduled maintenance, a move that has sparked fears in Europe of a prolonged shutdown imaginable through Russia in retaliation for sanctions, which may cause an energy crisis.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which transports fuel from Russia to Germany in the Baltic Sea, is expected to remain closed for the next 10 days while maintenance is carried out.
Klaus Mueller, head of Germany’s energy regulator, told Reuters that the Nord Stream fuel source fell to 0 on Monday “as expected. “
There have already been delays in planned maintenance and Muller believes any potential delays will be known one day before the end of the 10-day period.
A major fear among European officials is that Russia could intentionally delay the resumption of combustible materials or even keep it closed in an effort to punish Western Europe for its sanctions against Moscow and the military for Ukraine.
40 %. This is the capacity at which the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been operating since June 14, when Russia particularly reduced its supplies. Russian fuel giant Gazprom attributed the 60 percent drop to problems in the devices that might not be resolved due to sanctions.
After intense pressure from Germany, Canada on Saturday agreed to an exemption from its sanctions against Russia to allow the export of critical equipment that should help equipment problems in the pipeline and return source levels to normal. However, the move was criticized through the Ukrainian government, which said it would only inspire Moscow to use herbal fuel to offload concessions from the West.
Last month, Germany activated the momentary phase of its three-stage fuel contingency plan amid considerations about Russia’s materials decline. In this “alert phase,” the German federal government suggested citizens and local governments reduce fuel consumption as much as possible and warned against an increase in fuel prices. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck called the scenario a “fuel crisis” and accused Putin of intentionally carrying out an economic attack on Germany. A day later, Habeck warned of possible industry closures and job losses if fuel materials ran out in the winter, adding that a further drop in materials from Russia could cause a Lehman Brothers-style Collapse of the European energy sector in 2008. So far, Russia has suspended combustible materials to Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland after re-employing it to fulfill its mandate to issue banknotes using a ruble bank account.
Germany’s fuel reserves are about 64% complete and that figure should be 90% successful by December as part of its contingency plan. If it does not and Russia cuts off all supplies, the German government would be forced to provoke the third level of its contingency plan where it will take over fuel distribution and continue with rationing.
Germany reopens coal plants due to reduced Russian strength (Forbes)
German minister warns of ‘catastrophic’ trade closures and mass unemployment if fuel crisis continues (Forbes)