German energy importers have resumed nominations of gas volumes to be delivered via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline even though no gas is flowing along the pipe right now.
According to a Reuters report, this is the first time nominations have been made since Gazprom suspended the flow of gas via the pipeline at the end of August. The data came from the websites of German pipeline operators in charge of the infrastructure that connects Nord Stream 1 to end consumers.
The data showed buyers had nominated volumes of 3.65 million kWh per hour for Monday morning, for delivery to eastern Germany via the OPAL pipeline. Another 14.29 million kWh per hour was nominated for the NEL pipeline.
Gazprom shut down Nord Stream 1 after it said it had found an oil leak at a compressor station. It also said it was waiting for Siemens Energy to repair compressor station equipment and deliver turbines that the Russian company says are stranded in Germany because of EU sanctions.
Siemens Energy, for its part, says an oil leak is an easily fixable problem that should not prevent the operation of the pipeline and that the turbines are ready to be shipped to Russia. There is currently only one turbine remaining at the Portovaya compressor station at Nord Stream 1, which Gazprom says is the reason for reduced flows and more frequent halts for maintenance work.
Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin suggested that Europe needs to lift sanctions on Nord Stream 2 to get more gas from Russia.
"The bottom line is, if you have an urge, if it's so hard for you, just lift the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which is 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, just push the button and everything will get going," Putin said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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