The energy crisis

Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Saturday that it has stopped deliveries to Latvia due to “violations of the terms of gas extraction.”

This week, Aigars Kalvitis, chairman of gas company Latvijas Gaze, told the media that his country continued to buy Russian natural gas even after refusing to comply with Moscow’s ruble payment demand. “Latvijas Gaze is buying gas now, but we don’t buy gas from Gazprom because we can’t pay Gazprom. We have another supplier,” he said. Kalvitis added that Latvijas Gaze was paying for the gas in euros.

Earlier this month, the Latvian parliament placed a ban on Russian natural gas imports starting January 1, 2023.

The news comes at a time when the EU is looking for ways to phase out Russian gas in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, which was launched in late February.

Russia has insisted that European countries switch to paying for gas in rubles, after the EU froze Russian assets abroad as part of the sweeping sanctions on Moscow.

www.rt.com/business/559877-gazprom-halts-gas-supply-baltic-state

Russia’s EU-bound natural gas supplies, pumped via Ukraine, are limited to one remaining entry point, while Kiev refuses to reopen a second transit station, energy giant Gazprom said on Monday.

“Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit through Ukraine in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha gas metering station – 41.7 million cubic meters as of August 1. The application to reopen the Sohranovka gas metering system has been rejected,” Gazprom's representative told reporters.

Ukraine shut down transit through the Sokhranovka station, which handles about a third of the Russian gas flowing through Ukraine to Europe, in early May, citing “interference by the occupying forces.” Kiev argued that is gas transit operator GTSOU could not control the Novopskov border compressor station in Lugansk Region due to Russia’s military operation, and considered the situation a force majeure.

Russian energy giant explains gas flow reduction to EUREAD MORE: Russian energy giant explains gas flow reduction to EU
However, Gazprom at the time said it did not see any grounds for halting gas flows. Kiev asked the Russian firm to transfer all gas transit to the Sudzha pumping station in the Kursk Region, which Gazprom ruled out as technically impossible.

Meanwhile, Russia has also been forced to reduce its gas flow to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, due to turbine malfunctions. Gazprom has blamed the issue on the German company Siemens, which produced and maintains the equipment, accusing it of failing to fulfil its commitments.

The drop in Russian supplies has led to a surge in gas prices in Europe. In July, futures contracts for deliveries in August and September traded on the Dutch TTF exchange in the range of $1530-2385 per thousand cubic meters. In comparison, at the same time last year the spot price was less than $500.

www.rt.com/business/559976-ukraine-limiting-russian-gas-eu

Russia’s EU-bound natural gas supplies, pumped via Ukraine, are limited to one remaining entry point, while Kiev refuses to reopen a second transit station, energy giant Gazprom said on Monday.

“Gazprom is supplying Russian gas for transit through Ukraine in the volume confirmed by the Ukrainian side through the Sudzha gas metering station – 41.7 million cubic meters as of August 1. The application to reopen the Sohranovka gas metering system has been rejected,” Gazprom's representative told reporters.

Ukraine shut down transit through the Sokhranovka station, which handles about a third of the Russian gas flowing through Ukraine to Europe, in early May, citing “interference by the occupying forces.” Kiev argued that is gas transit operator GTSOU could not control the Novopskov border compressor station in Lugansk Region due to Russia’s military operation, and considered the situation a force majeure.

Russian energy giant explains gas flow reduction to EUREAD MORE: Russian energy giant explains gas flow reduction to EU
However, Gazprom at the time said it did not see any grounds for halting gas flows. Kiev asked the Russian firm to transfer all gas transit to the Sudzha pumping station in the Kursk Region, which Gazprom ruled out as technically impossible.

Meanwhile, Russia has also been forced to reduce its gas flow to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, due to turbine malfunctions. Gazprom has blamed the issue on the German company Siemens, which produced and maintains the equipment, accusing it of failing to fulfil its commitments.

The drop in Russian supplies has led to a surge in gas prices in Europe. In July, futures contracts for deliveries in August and September traded on the Dutch TTF exchange in the range of $1530-2385 per thousand cubic meters. In comparison, at the same time last year the spot price was less than $500.

www.rt.com/business/559976-ukraine-limiting-russian-gas-eu

Russia has increased natural gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline this year, Russian energy major Gazprom said on its official Telegram channel on Monday.

Deliveries were up 60.9% compared to the same period last year.

“In particular, in July deliveries were regularly in excess of the daily contract quantities, with the historical record of the daily export volume being surpassed three times,” Gazprom said.

Meanwhile, Gazprom’s export to non-CIS countries amounted to 75.3 billion cubic meters, which is 34.7% (40 billion cubic meters) less than during the same period in 2021. The company stressed, however, that it was supplying gas “in accordance with customer requests.”

According to preliminary data, global demand in Gazprom’s supplies in the first seven months of 2022 fell by about 35 billion cubic meters compared to the same period in 2021. Most of the decline, totaling 31 billion cubic meters, came from EU buyers, Gazprom noted. This is due to several factors including the conflict in Ukraine, EU sanctions and Russia’s counter-sanctions, and the bloc’s new policy towards reducing its reliance on Russian energy.

The Power of Siberia pipeline supplies natural gas from Russia’s Yakutia to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It is a joint project of Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which supplies China with Russian energy under a 30-year-contract signed in 2014.

www.rt.com/business/560017-russia-china-gas-supplies

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to see the gas turbine that triggered the escalation of an energy standoff between Russia and the EU on Wednesday.

After inspecting part of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and declaring that “the turbine works,” Scholz blamed Moscow for delays in its return and the subsequent reduction of gas flow from Russia to Germany. The Siemens-made equipment had been serviced in Canada and was supposed to be returned to Russia, but international sanctions made that impossible, and the part has since been stranded in Germany.

“[The turbine] can be transported and used at any time,” the chancellor said during a factory visit to Siemens Energy in Muelheim an der Ruhr. “The nonfulfillment of the gas supply contracts has no technical reasons whatsoever,” he added.

Germany has blamed Moscow for deliberately blocking the return process and using the turbine as a pretext to reduce the gas flow. Chancellor Scholz said the turbine had received “all the approvals” necessary for export from Germany to Russia, and it was Gazprom’s turn to provide the customs information to enable the shipment.

Gazprom, however, said on Wednesday that Western sanctions make it impossible to return the pipeline equipment properly.

Russian gas giant warns it can’t accept key turbineREAD MORE: Russian gas giant warns it can’t accept key turbine
It was reported last month that the turbine was set to be sent to Russia within days. As of Thursday, however, it is still in Germany.

Another Siemens turbine was disabled at a compressor station last month due to its technical condition, with gas flow via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline falling to just 20% capacity.

On Wednesday, turbine manufacturer Siemens confirmed that only one out of six of its Nord Stream 1 turbines is currently operational and that five are needed to pump at 100% capacity.

Moscow has repeatedly said that international sanctions are essentially making it impossible to boost supplies to the EU as they prevent due maintenance of the equipment.

www.rt.com/business/560161-russian-gas-turbine-stuck-germany

Germany’s federal and regional governments are bracing for a potential wave of protests which might come this autumn or winter, the state-funded ARD and RBB broadcasters reported this week.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s cabinet fears that rising food and energy prices could lead to social unrest and be exploited by various “radical” movements, the outlets explained.

According to the media, the protests might be similar to the ones Germany experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the government faced resistance to its lockdown and vaccination policies. ARD’s Tagesschau news service reported that some groups have already sought to organize protests in Berlin under the slogans “Revolt,” “Uprising,” and “Civil War.”

According to the reports, the protests might be similar to those experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the government faced resistance to its lockdown and vaccination policies.

The new rallies might once again unite people known as the Querdenker (lateral thinkers) in Germany. This is a loose organization of grassroots movements that became prominent during the anti-lockdown protests. The German media has repeatedly pointed to the movement’s supposed links to various far-right extremist groups.

A “Free Saxony” movement in the eastern German state of Saxony has also called for “massive civil resistance,” according to Tagesschau, citing Matthias Quent, a researcher with the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences.

www.rt.com/news/560243-germany-face-protests-autumn-energy