Gazprom says Siemens Energy is ready to fix Nord Stream failure

Pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline landing facility, photographed in Lubmin, Germany, on March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

Sept 3 (Reuters) – Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said on Saturday Siemens (ENR1n.DE) was ready to carry out repairs on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but there was nowhere to do the work, Siemens has denied the suggestion and said he was not asked to do the work.

Gazprom’s statement came a day after the company said it would not resume gas supply to Germany via Nord Stream 1 until it said an oil leak detected in the turbine was fixed. It said repairs could only be carried out in specially installed workshops.read more

The Kremlin has accused Western sanctions of sabotaging Nord Stream 1 and creating obstacles to routine maintenance. Western officials rejected the claim, and Siemens Energy said the sanctions did not prohibit repairs.

Before the latest round of maintenance, Gazprom had reduced flow to 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.

“Siemens is participating in repairs under the current contract, detecting faults … and preparing to repair the oil spill. There is just nowhere to make repairs,” Gazprom said in a statement on its Telegram channel. Saturday .

Siemens Energy said it had not been commissioned for the work but was available, adding that the leaks reported by Gazprom would not normally affect turbine operation and could be sealed on site.

“Nevertheless, we have pointed out on several occasions that there are enough additional turbines at the Portovaya compressor station to operate Nord Stream 1,” the company spokesman said.

Water flow through Nord Stream 1 was due to resume on Saturday morning. But just hours before the pumping began, Gazprom released a photo on Friday of what it said was an oil leak from a piece of equipment at Nord Stream 1.

Siemens Energy, which supplies and maintains equipment for the Portovaya compressor station at Nord Stream 1, said on Friday that the leak did not constitute a technical reason for stopping the flow.

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Europe has accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon in what Moscow calls an “economic war” with the West over the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

When asked about Saturday’s shutdown, Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the EU wants Russia to respect the energy contracts it has agreed to, but they are ready to take on the challenge if Moscow doesn’t.read more

Germany’s network regulator said the country’s natural gas supply was currently secured, but the situation was tense and a further deterioration could not be ruled out.

“The deficiencies claimed by the Russian side are not the technical reasons for the suspension of operations,” the Federal Network Agency said in its daily report on the situation of natural gas.

Reuters editors Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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