Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline resumes flows, easing supply concerns

RUSSIAN gas resumed flowing through the biggest pipeline between Russia and Germany on Thursday (Jul 21) after a 10-day outage, the operator said, easing concerns that the maintenance period would be extended.

Europe has been on edge about the restart of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline after annual maintenance, with governments bracing for possible further supply cuts amid an economic tit-for-tat with the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine.

The pipeline transports 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year of gas under the Baltic Sea and has been offline since Jul 11 for annual maintenance.

On the operator Nord Stream’s website, physical flows were at 21,388,236 kwh/h for 6-7am CET (4-5 am GMT), from zero previously.

The resumption in gas flows could take several hours, a spokesperson for the operator told Reuters.

A spokesperson for Austria’s OMV said Gazprom signalled it would deliver around 50 per cent of agreed gas volumes on Thursday, levels seen before the shutdown. REUTERS