Gazprom to Suspend Nord Stream Gas Supplies – Are you suprised?

Gazprom to Suspend Nord Stream Gas Supplies - Are you suprised?
Yes I shut it off - Putin

Gazprom revealed on Twitter that gas supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline will be suspended from August 31 to September 2 for maintenance works.

“On August 31, 2022, the only gas compressor unit that is currently in operation, Trent 60, will be shut down for a three-day servicing and preventative maintenance period,” Gazprom said in the Twitter statement.

“This set of scheduled operations under the current service maintenance contract will be performed jointly with Siemens,” Gazprom added.

In the statement, Gazprom noted that, “according to the technical specifications provided by Siemens”, the unit must undergo technical maintenance every 1,000 hours, “namely, the casing must be inspected for cracks, dents, deformations and burn throughs, and cleaned”.

“The oil, air and gas combustion venting systems must be checked for leaks, connections must be tightened, and the causes of leaks must be eliminated. The safety valves must be subjected to performance checks and the airflow control system must undergo adjustments,” Gazprom stated.

The company added that, “upon the completion of maintenance operations, provided that no malfunctions are identified, gas transmission will be resumed at the rate of 33 million cubic meters per day”.

In a market note sent to Rigzone last week, Rystad Energy analyst Lu Ming Pang highlighted that 33 million cubic meters per day is 20 percent capacity for the Nord Stream pipeline.

“The pipeline continues to be plagued by compressor issues, with only one out of five currently operational, bottlenecking gas flows into Europe,” Pang said in the note.

“A compressor that was serviced in Canada and which has already been returned to Europe continues to remain in limbo. Both Russia’s Gazprom and Germany’s Siemens Energy are unable to arrive at a delivery agreement over Western sanctions, resulting in a delay in the compressor’s return to service,” Pang added.

In a separate market note sent to Rigzone earlier this month, Pang said “Gazprom claims that Nord Stream 1 is only capable of operating at 20 percent capacity as only one out of five compressors is in operation right now”.

“The ongoing compressor transfer situation between Siemens and Gazprom has not yet been resolved, with Siemens claiming that Gazprom is still not facilitating receipt of the compressor into Russia despite all the relevant customs documents being in place,” Pang added.

“Gazprom disputes this, saying it requires additional documents to ensure the compressor will not violate sanctions imposed by the European Commission,” the Rystad analyst continued.

Source: RigZone