Norway will deploy armed forces near its gas and oil wells after Monday’s explosions around the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, Reuters reported.

“The armed forces will be more visible at Norwegian oil and gas facilities,” Prime Minister Jonas Haar Stere said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

His statement came after European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about sabotage on Gazprom’s gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea earlier on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, German media reported that security services in Berlin feared that the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline would be rendered permanently unusable after the large leaks it suffered in Monday’s explosions.

Several officials quoted by the daily Der Tasspiegel said that if the pipeline breaks were not repaired quickly, large volumes of salt water would enter the pipelines and cause corrosion.

On February 22, the German authorities suspended the permit for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline due to fears that Russia would attack Ukraine. However, neither pipeline was operational at the time of the explosions, after Gazprom completely cut gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 in early September.

Earlier this year, Norway became the main supplier of natural gas in Europe after Gazprom limited or stopped supplies to several EU countries because of its refusal to pay for energy imports from Russia in rubles.

In mid-September, the government in Oslo and several Norwegian energy companies pledged to work with the EU to help lower gas prices in the bloc amid an energy crisis fueled by Russia.

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