Nord Stream Pipeline Leaks Along Baltic Sea Were Punctured – Report
A news report from Germany just disclosed that the pressure drops from Nord Stream pipelines along the Baltic Sea may have been due to attacks.
Danish news outlet Tagesspiegel stated that the federal government of Denmark was not assuming a coincidence as two gas lines recorded pressure losses in rapid succession.
Reuters had earlier reported that Danish authorities warned ships to avoid five nautical miles off the island of Bornholm after a gas leak overnight from the defunct Nord Stream 2 pipeline drained into the sea.
Nord Stream 2’s operator, Nord Stream AG said pressure in the pipeline, which had contained some gas sealed inside despite never becoming operational, dropped from 105 to 7 bars overnight.
The pipeline, which was intended to double the volume of gas flowing from St. Petersburg under the Baltic Sea to Germany, had just been completed and filled with 300 million cubic metres of gas when Germany cancelled it days before the invasion.
German authorities had said they were conversing with the Government of Denmark and collaborating with local investogators to probe what caused the pressure in the pipeline to plunge suddenly. The Danish energy ministry reportedly refused to comment on the matter.
Later on the same day of the event, the operator of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that had been running at lower capacity since mid-June before ending supplies in August also reported a pressure drop on both lines of the gas pipeline.
Nord Stream AG said on its website, “The reasons are being investigated” whilst refusing to divulge further information. Russia has been using the Nord Stream pipeline as leverage to punish Europe since sanctions were placed on it after its Ukraine invasion in February.
This has exploded gas prices across Europe and pressured economies in the Western hemisphere. The Danish energy agency was quoted as saying in a statement, “A leak today occurred on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Danish area.”
The German network regulator president, Klaus Mueller, said on Twitter the pressure drop in both pipelines “underscores the German network regulator’s assessment that the situation is tense.”
The regulator said it was currently not known what had caused the pressure drop, adding the event had no impact on security of supply in Germany and that the country’s gas storage levels were around 91%.
