By Emmanuel Nduka
Russia has cut gas supply to Germany via a key pipeline for an indefinite period, after citing maintenance issues on Friday.
The development is envisaged to worsen Europe’s energy crisis.
Russian gas giant Gazprom on Friday said the Nord Stream pipeline due to reopen at the weekend would remain shut until a turbine is repaired.
In a statement, Gazprom indicated it had discovered “oil leaks” in a turbine during a planned three-day maintenance operation.
Gazprom added that “until it is repaired… the transport of gas via Nord Stream is completely suspended”.
Resumption of deliveries via the pipeline which runs from near St Petersburg to Germany under the Baltic Sea, had been due to resume on Saturday.
Gazprom said it had discovered the problems while carrying out maintenance with representatives of Siemens, which manufactured the turbine in a compressor station that pushes gas through the pipeline.
The firm on its Telegram page it published a picture of cables covered in a brown liquid.
Earlier in the day, the Kremlin warned the future operation of the Nord Stream pipeline, one of Gazprom’s major supply routes, was at risk due to a lack of spare parts.
“There are no technical reserves, only one turbine is working,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“So the reliability of the operation, of the whole system, is at risk,” he said, adding that it was “not through the fault” of Russian energy giant Gazprom.
The turbine-maker Siemens Energy said in a statement that the oil leaks blamed by Gazprom was “not a technical reason for stopping operation”.
“Such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site,” it said, adding that it was “not contracted for maintenance work”.
Following the imposition of economic sanctions over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia has reduced or halted supplies to different European nations, causing energy prices to soar.
The Kremlin has blamed the reduction of supplies via Nord Stream on European sanctions which it says have blocked the return of a Siemens turbine that had been undergoing repairs in Canada.
Germany, which is where the turbine is located now, has said Moscow is blocking the return of the critical piece of equipment.
Previously, Berlin had accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon.
The announcement by Gazprom came the same day the G7 nations said they would work to quickly implement a price cap on Russian oil exports, a move which would starve the Kremlin of critical revenue for its war effort.
Gazprom also announced the suspension of gas supplies to France’s main provider Engie from Thursday after it failed to pay for all deliveries made in July.
