Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Sept 3 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ) said on Saturday Siemens ( ENR1n.DE ) was ready to carry out repairs on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline but there was nowhere available to carry out the work, a proposal Siemens he refused and said he was not asked to do the job. Gazprom’s statement came a day after it said it would not resume gas supplies to Germany through Nord Stream 1 until an oil leak it said it had detected in a turbine was repaired. He said repairs could only be carried out at a specially equipped workshop. read more The Kremlin blamed Western sanctions for halting Nord Stream 1 and placing barriers on routine maintenance work. Western officials have rejected that claim, and Siemens Energy has said the sanctions do not prohibit maintenance. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Before the latest round of maintenance, Gazprom had already reduced flows to just 20% of the pipeline’s capacity. “Siemens is participating in the repair work according to the current contract, identifying malfunctions… and is ready to fix the oil leaks. Only there is nowhere to do the repair,” Gazprom said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Saturday . Siemens Energy said it had not been commissioned to carry out the work but was available, adding that the leak reported by Gazprom did not normally affect the operation of a turbine and could be sealed on site. “Regardless, we have already pointed out several times that there are several additional turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for the operation of Nord Stream 1,” said a company representative. Flows through Nord Stream 1 were due to resume early Saturday morning. However, hours before gas pumping began, Gazprom released a photo on Friday of an oil leak on a piece of Nord Stream 1 equipment. Siemens Energy, which supplies and maintains equipment at the Nord Stream 1 compressor station in Portovaya, said on Friday that the leak was not a technical reason to stop the gas flow. read more Europe has accused Russia of using natural gas supplies as a weapon in what Moscow has called an “economic war” with the West over the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Asked about the disruption on Saturday, Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the European Union expects Russia to respect the energy contracts it has agreed, but is ready to rise to the challenge if Moscow does not. read more Germany’s grid regulator said the country’s gas supply is currently guaranteed, but the situation is tense and further deterioration cannot be ruled out. “The defects claimed by the Russian side are not a technical reason for the interruption of operations,” the Federal Network Agency said in its daily report on the natural gas situation. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Reuters Editing by Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
