Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that it has “indefinitely” suspended all natural gas deliveries via its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the key artery linking Russia and the European Union, citing equipment issues at one of its compressor stations.
The announcement appears to realize European fears that Russia intends to cut off gas on the pretext of maintenance problems, a possibility that has led Western countries to scramble to build up supplies ahead of winter.
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Gazprom said in a statement Friday that the shutdown was caused by “malfunctions” detected on a turbine at the Portovaya compressor station.
It did not provide a time frame for restarting deliveries.
Russia had originally halted flows Wednesday, ostensibly for a three-day period of maintenance, raising anticipation that it intends to cut off supplies altogether.
Gazprom’s announcement comes just hours after G-7 finance ministers announced their plans to implement a price cap on Russian oil exports in an effort to sap President Vladimir Putin’s war funding.
A Russian gas cut-off would mark a dramatic worsening of the EU’s energy crisis, as the bloc scrambles to fill its gas storage tanks ahead of the winter season.
Though the EU is on track to meet its storage targets, analysts have warned that in order for the supplies to last through March, the bloc must also be prepared to slash consumption at a level not seen before.
Countries like Germany, which rely more heavily on Russian supplies, must be prepared to make even steeper cuts of up to 25%.
The bloc would also be increasingly dependent on other countries for LNG imports to offset the Russian supplies.
But it is unlikely that suppliers can ramp up production at a level necessary to offset cuts from Gazprom—and analysts have warned that it will likely take years for this to happen due to production and infrastructure constraints.
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If Gazprom were to completely halt gas delivery via Nord Stream 1, German demand would be “severely curtailed this coming winter, with some of the shortfalls being passed on to Germany’s neighbours” in central and eastern Europe, the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies said in a recent report.
