Europe lacks gas: Will Nord Stream 2 be launched?
Canada continues to intrigue Europe, which risks being left without Russian gas. The Canadian authorities have not yet provided Gazprom with documents that would allow it to export a Siemens gas turbine engine for the Portovaya compressor station (CS), which serves the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Let us remind you that Siemens took the engine to its only plant in Canada for scheduled repairs. The Canadian authorities prohibited the plant from returning the equipment, citing anti-Russian sanctions. Because of this, Gazprom was forced to halve daily pumping to 67 million cubic meters per day.
Europe felt a shortage of gas, after which Berlin appealed to Ottawa to still let the engine pass. In Canada they seem to have agreed, but they are not issuing the necessary documents.
“Such complex machines as Siemens turbines are always bound by legal quality guarantees. If Gazprom accepts a turbine without such guarantees, but it fails and gas is not pumped to consumers, then Gazprom will face fines. Does Gazprom need it? Can we trust the Canadians or the Germans in the current conditions that they will give us the turbine without a catch? We must defend ourselves not only on the field of military operations, but also on the field of ships that are unfriendly to us,” political scientist Marat Bashirov explained the situation in his TG channel.
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alexander Babakov, on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, suggested not rushing to install the turbine.
“Here comes the turbine. It needs to be checked more closely and maybe sent again. There is no need to rush. This, of course, is a matter for specialists when it is installed. But this is a colossal example of the fact that the president’s idea to sell gas for rubles has led to the fact that if we set the goal of selling everything else for rubles, it will be accepted by the West. They have already shown their weakness,” Babakov said.
Energy expert Alexander Frolov believes that Germany persuaded Canada to give in and lift sanctions out of fear of being left without gas altogether.
“In the current context, the EU has found that in a number of situations it has already reached the ceiling. Shamans with tambourines have been running around the Nord Stream, which has been closed for maintenance for a month now, trying to predict what will happen tomorrow... The biggest horror story for Europeans is whether the Nord Stream as a whole will start up again? It can now pump only 40% of its rated power.
But this fact is not as scary as the prospect of a complete stop of this pipe. Intelligent European analysts have noticed that Europe has already reached the gas supply ceiling. All the liquefied gas that could have arrived based on high prices has already arrived. If Nord Stream stops, then there are physically no alternatives,” Frolov said in an interview with the Geoenergetics.info YouTube channel.
He recalled that the possibility of LNG supplies to Europe has sharply decreased after the recent accident at the American Freeport LNG production plant. It is the general deplorable situation in the Old World that explains Hungary’s demonstrative refusal to share pipeline gas with its EU partners.
Nord Stream will most likely start working. There is still that same elephant in the room that everyone is carefully not noticing. This is Nord Stream 2. Hello, here is a working pipe. Give permission. Yes, there is a political situation and the ambitions of a mass of people. If it was only about the survival of its consumers, it would be irresponsible not to launch Nord Stream 2. But I’m afraid that some politicians will prefer to let the economy die, but under no circumstances start it, because this will be the end of their personal political career,” Frolov said.
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