A huge fire erupted on Thursday at the biggest natural gas field in Russia, Urengoy in Western Siberia, after a pipe burst.
The fire has been extinguished, and production has not been affected, Russian gas giant Gazprom said later on Thursday.
"On June 16, 2022, at 0:30 am (Moscow time), a depressurisation occurred at the Urengoy field with a fire in the second line of the gas collector located between the integrated gas treatment units UKPG-7 and UKPG-8V. There were no casualties," Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy, the Gazprom unit operating at the site, said.
Operations at the gas field were suspended after the fire erupted.
"Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy LLC promptly took measures to suspend the operation of production facilities, redistribute gas flows, and contain and eliminate the fire," the company said.
The fire was extinguished, and production facilities have been put back into operation since then, according to Gazprom, which also noted that the incident did not prevent it from achieving the targets for gas production at the site.
Urengoy, Russia's biggest gas field, is also one of the largest gas fields in the world and has been producing gas since 1978. Most of the huge onshore field is located beyond the Arctic Circle.
The fire at the biggest gas field in Russia comes a day after Gazprom notified Germany and Italy-its biggest customers in Europe-that natural gas flows to the two countries would be limited in the following days. Flows to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline are now down by 60% compared to planned volumes, while gas supply to Italy was reduced by 15%. Gazprom said the flows to Germany would be limited because Siemens delayed the return of a repaired gas turbine, while it did not give any reason for the cuts to flows to Italy.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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