However, Gazprom booked significantly higher gas volumes for another pipeline that runs through Slovakia to Germany. / Nord Stream 1: Russia throttles gas flow to 20 percent
As announced, Russia further restricted gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 percent of capacity in the morning. According to the operating company, a good 14 million kilowatt hours per hour have been supplied since 9 a.m. Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. it was still more than 27 million kilowatt hours. The level reached after 9 a.m. corresponds to the delivery volume announced for the rest of the day on the Nord Stream 1 website.
Parallel to the throttling, the European gas price continued to rise. The price for a megawatt hour of Dutch natural gas for delivery in August rose by around 10 percent compared to the previous day to EUR 224. The price refers to the TTF futures contract, which is taken as a guide in Europe.
Netzagenturchef: Gas could be part of the war strategy
The Russian energy company Gazprom announced on Monday that it would only deliver 20 percent of the gas capacity of Nord Stream 1 to Western Europe due to another missing turbine. Before and after a ten-day maintenance break, during which no gas flowed at all, Gazprom had turned on 40 percent of its capacity.
Russia blames technical problems related to sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow after attacking Ukraine. The Federal Government considers this to be a pretense and sees political reasons. According to network agency boss Klaus Müller, gas is now part of Russian foreign policy and possibly also part of the war strategy. It is unrealistic to assume that 40 percent of the possible volume will come through Nord Stream 1 in the coming weeks, said Müller on Deutschlandfunk.
The agency’s president has been wary of reports that Russia could supply more gas to Europe via Ukraine. This still has to be verified. “I don’t trust all the announcements until we’ve seen a few hours into this day.”
Gazprom books more capacity through Slovakia
According to the pipeline operator Eugas, Gazprom booked significantly more capacity on the Transgas pipeline through Slovakia than in the past few days. In the Slovakian border town of Veľké Kapušany, the starting point of the Slovakian section, the transmission of 68.6 million cubic meters of gas was registered. The day before it was 36.8 million cubic meters.
The booking suggests that Gazprom could make up for lost gas supplies to Europe at Nord Stream 1 via the route through Slovakia. Transgas is a pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine to Slovakia and to Austria and Germany.
Will Gazprom send more gas through the pipeline?
The additional gas quantities nominated correspond approximately to the throttling through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which Gazprom justified by repairing another turbine. The booking of additional capacity is not yet evidence that Gazprom will actually send more gas through the pipeline. However, there are other indications.
The operator of the Ukrainian pipeline section TSOU had complained that the Russian gas giant had increased the pressure in the pipelines there without warning. This suggests that Gazprom is pumping more gas through the pipeline.
However, this is contradicted by data from the Sudscha measuring station at the transition between Russia and Ukraine. The delivery quantities of 42.2 million cubic meters nominated there are practically at the level of the past few days.
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