With Europe on edge over the possibility that Russia will cut off gas flows, new grid data now shows that orders via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have been made for Thursday, easing some of the panic that has prompted the EU to call on member states to reduce gas usage 15%.
Germany's energy regulator has confirmed that Russian state-run Gazprom has renominated gas flows for July 21st at 30% capacity for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, ZeroHedge noted on Twitter.
The renominations for Nord Stream 1 were also confirmed by Reuters.
According to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, shipments of natural gas will resume on Thursday, when maintenance that began on July 11th are scheduled to end. However, for now, shipments remain below the norm in volume based on orders placed so far.
Prior to the maintenance shut-down, gas flows via Nord Stream were only operating at 40% capacity, and Bloomberg noted concerns earlier this week that maintenance on another unit of the pipeline could reduce flows to 20% capacity later this month.
Presently, only two turbines are operating on Nord Stream 1.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had indicated that gas would start flowing again to Europe via the pipeline, but warned that flows could be severely reduced if there is no resolution with regard to sanctioned parts-particularly gas turbines-needed to maintain Nord Stream 1.
"There are two functioning machines there, they pump 60 million cubic metres per day ... If one is not returned, there will be one, which is 30 million cubic metres. Has Gazprom something to do with that?" Putin was quoted as saying by Reuters on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the European Union urged its member states to reduce gas consumption by 15% until next spring to head off a further crisis in the face of the threat of a complete Russian natural gas cutoff. The move is part of the European Commission's gas demand reduction plan released on Wednesday.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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Comments
Long $rrc Range Resources
Strong buy
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And the US Coast Guard as well.