The Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea are to be sealed and closed because there is no immediate plan to repair or restore them, Reuters reports citing several sources familiar with the situation.
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, each consisting of two pipelines, were built by Gazprom to pump 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Germany through the Baltic Sea.
Three pipelines were punctured by explosions that occurred around them last September, with only the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline remaining partially intact.
But tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the Kremlin to order Gazprom to shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on September 2, nearly 3 weeks before the explosions that severely damaged it.
Regarding the Nord Stream 2 project, the German government suspended the process of obtaining a permit for the gas pipeline on February 22 last year, two days before the introduction of Russian troops into Ukraine.
Gazprom has said that repairing the damaged pipelines is technically possible, but two sources familiar with Moscow’s plans told Reuters that the Kremlin sees no prospect of improving relations with the West anytime soon.
Therefore, Moscow does not consider it necessary to repair gas pipelines.
Russia hopes that American gas will rise in price
Last year, Europe dramatically reduced its dependence on Russian energy imports, although many countries depended almost entirely on Russian gas. The situation led to an almost 50 percent drop in all Russian energy exports to countries that were not part of the Soviet Union.
One Reuters source claims that Moscow considers the Nord Stream project “buried”.
But the other two said that while there are no plans to repair them, they will be sealed and preserved for possible reactivation in the future.
A separate source confirmed to the German news agency that the projects’ shareholders are considering the possibility of preservation.
This will most likely mean sealing the pipes and applying an anti-corrosion coating to protect them from seawater.
One of the Russian sources claims that if the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which Europe imports from the US, rises significantly, offices in the west of the continent may once again be ready to resume imports from Russia.
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Source: Hot News
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