The Russian energy giant is looking for ways to get the pipelines up and running, but the timeline can’t yet be estimated?
The damage to Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines means Europe will be indefinitely deprived of one of its most important gas supply routes, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said on Friday.
“Basically, Europe is indefinitely deprived of one of the key routes to get a crucial energy resource. Russia and Gazprom spent a huge amount of energy and money to build and launch these pipelines because this is the shortest and safest way, as we thought , for Russian gas to reach European consumers. Now the pipelines are punctured,” Kupriyanov said at a UN Security Council meeting.
Technical data “allows [Gazprom] to say with certainty” that the severe pressure drops were caused by physical damage, the spokesman emphasized. According to him, at the time of the incident, the pipelines were not carrying gas, but both were filled with fuel and ready for service. There were about 800 million cubic meters of gas in the strings, which corresponds to Denmark’s gas consumption over three months.
“Gazprom has started looking for possible solutions to restart the Nord Stream system, but the timeline cannot yet be estimated… This is a very difficult technical task,” Kupriyanov said, noting that to assess the situation, Gazprom must start with a physical inspection of the damaged areas.
The Danish authorities reported leaks on the pipelines on Monday after a local pipeline operator noted a loss of pressure on both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines earlier that day. Danish and Swedish seismologists later spoke of a series of underwater explosions in the area.
The Russian, US and Swedish authorities said the leaks may have been the result of a deliberate attack.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the incidents were the result of sabotage, and warned that any “deliberate disruption of the European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest retaliation.” Russia called the incident a “terrorist attack” and called a UN Security Council meeting about it.
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(RT.com)