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Single line of Nord Stream 2 can still export gas
Europe has been investigating what Germany, Denmark and Sweden have said were attacks which caused major leaks into the Baltic Sea from the two Russian gas pipelines at the centre of an energy standoff. The countries have not said who could be behind the attack.
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This handout picture released on September 27, 2022 by the Danish Defence Command shows the gas leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as it is seen from the Danish Defence's F-16 rejection response off the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm, south of Dueodde. The two Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe have been hit by unexplained leaks, Scandinavian authorities said on September 27, 2022, raising suspicions of sabotage. The pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
(AFP/Handout)
R
ussia could export gas to Europe through one of the idle Nord Stream 2 pipelines that was the only of Nord Stream's four lines still capable of working following a mysterious attack, analysts said on Wednesday.
Europe has been investigating what Germany, Denmark and Sweden have said were attacks which caused major leaks into the Baltic Sea from the two Russian gas pipelines at the centre of an energy standoff. The countries have not said who could be behind the attack.
President Vladimir Putin denied this month that Russia had anything to do with Europe's energy crisis, saying that if the European Union wanted more gas it should lift sanctions preventing the opening of the Nord Stream 2.
Nord Stream AG, the operator of the network, said on Tuesday that three of four offshore lines of the Nord Stream system sustained "unprecedented" damage in one day. Nord Stream's network had not delivered gas to Europe since August.
Nord Stream 1 reported a significant pressure drop caused by the gas leak on both lines of the gas pipeline, while Nord Stream 2 said that a sharp pressure drop in line A was registered.
That leaves only one line of Nord Stream 2, which has an annual capacity of 27.5 billion cubic metres, functional.
Alexei Grivach of the Moscow-based National Energy Security Fund said there was still working pressure in the pipeline, which still needs to be examined.
"If everything is right, it is capable of working provided there is a permit from regulators," he said.
Gazprom did not reply to a request for comment.
"Judging by the publicly available information, one line has been unscathed. In theory, in case of a political decision and by tuning in the gas processing equipment, supplies via the link are possible," said Igor Galaktionov of BCS Mir Investitsiy brokerage.
Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, designed to double the flow of Russian gas direct to the country, after Russia formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, two days before Moscow started its military operation there.
The pipeline runs almost in parallel to Nord Stream 1, which started gas supplies in 2011. It was constructed in September 2021, but has never been launched.
Germany's Federal Network Agency suspended the certification process in November, saying Nord Stream 2 must register as a legal entity in Germany.
