Nord Stream said the destruction of three separate gas pipelines in the Baltic which it operated was unprecedented, and it was not possible at this time to estimate when the pipelines might be repaired and returned to operation.
Nord Stream 1 had been operational earlier this year, before seeing flows cut dramatically, and finally suspended due to technical problems. Nord Stream 2 had been fully constructed, however it had not been activated to begin deliveries due to political and bureaucratic issues. Both pipelines were kept pressurized, as part of maintaining the system.
The company said, “The destruction that occurred on the same day at once on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented. It is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transmission infrastructure.”
In the early hours of Monday morning it was noted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline suffered a dramatic loss of pressure. Shortly thereafter, a gas leak was spotted by Danish authorities near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, and a five mile perimeter was closed off around the area. German and Danish authorities are investigating the incidents.
Nord Stream spokesman Ulrich Lissek described how a “large bubble field near Bornholm” was spotted, adding that “the pipeline was never in use, just prepared for technical operation, and therefore filled with gas.”
Tuesday, Sweden’s maritime authority discovered that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was leaking northeast of the Bornholm Island, in Swedish and Danish waters.
A Swedish Maritime Administration spokesperson said, “There are two leaks on Nord Stream 1 – one in the Swedish economic zone and one in the Danish economic zone. They are very near each other.”
Some including the German Tagesspiegel newspaper have noted the damage may have occurred as a result of attacks on the pipelines. It wrote, “A pressure loss in the two gas pipelines that occurred in rapid succession” could have happened due to a “targeted action.”
According to experts, repairing the damage to the two pipelines may take as long as several years, given they were damaged in 50-100M of water. Lissek has cautioned that due to “the sanctions regime and the lack of personnel on the ground,” it will be a complicated matter to determine the cause of the incident.
The Daily Financial Trends
