Deliveries of Russian gas to Germany should resume at “pre-maintenance” levels via the Nord Stream pipeline, with maintenance work due to end Thursday morning, German network operator Gascade said on Wednesday.
“We assume that based on current quotes, gas transmission via Nord Stream will resume at pre-maintenance levels of 40% of capacity,” the company said in a statement based on data reported by its customers.
“Nominations” are notifications sent by gas exporters and importers to the network operator, prior to making or receiving their deliveries. Europe is clinging to Moscow’s decision to restart the pipeline, which supplies Russian gas mainly to Germany but also to many EU states.
“All this can change until tomorrow”
Citing the absence of a turbine under maintenance in Canada, Gazprom cut deliveries via Nord Stream by 60% in June. A “pretext”, according to Berlin, which denounces a “political” decision. For the first time since maintenance work began ten days ago, Gascade’s online platform published a forecast of deliveries to the pipeline’s end point in Lubmin in northern Italy on Wednesday afternoon.
But we will have to wait for the gas to really flow to check the level of the volumes supplied by Gazprom. “All this can change until tomorrow (Thursday),” the president of the German Network Agency, Klaus Müller, also tempered on Twitter. “The complete restoration of transportation may take a few hours and last until the end of the morning of July 21,” Gascade also detailed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the prospects for Nord Stream in the coming weeks. He hinted that the pipeline could be restarted on Thursday morning, but if Russia does not receive the missing turbine, it would be running at 20% capacity next week, according to media reports late Tuesday-Wednesday. Because, according to the Russian president, a second turbine will in turn have to undergo maintenance at the end of July.
Source: BFM TV
