Germany and with it Europe entered, on Monday, a period of great uncertainty on the continuation of their imports of Russian gas, already greatly reduced in recent weeks and which could soon dry up completely.
This morning, the Russian company Gazprom began a maintenance operation for the two Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines, which transport a large quantity of its gas, which is still delivered to Germany and several other countries in Western Europe. This operation will largely deprive these countries of its services.
This ten-day stoppage of the two gas pipelines, announced a long time ago, was in theory only to be a technical formality. But in the context of the war in Ukraine and the showdown between Moscow and the West over energy, no one can bet on the future.
Gazprom cuts gas supplies to Austria and Italy
As a warning, Gazprom has also reduced, on Monday, its gas deliveries to Italy and Austria, respectively by a third and 70%, indicated the Italian energy supplier ENI and its Austrian equivalent, OMV.
Most of the Russian gas delivered to Italy passes through Ukraine, through the TAG gas pipeline which arrives at Tarvisio in the north of the country, on the border with Austria.
France must prepare “for the total cut off of Russian gas”, Germany is trying to adapt
“Let’s prepare for the total cut off of Russian gas, this is the most likely option today. It supposes that we accelerate our energy independence”argued on LCI, during the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, who wants to take advantage of the summer to “put yourself in battle order” before winter.
For its part, Germany has been making efforts since the beginning of the war to reduce its energy dependence. Berlin has notably closed another Russian gas pipeline which was to come into operation, Nord Stream 2, and its gas imports have fallen from 55% before the war to 35% today.
However, dependence on Russian gas is still significant and more than 50% of German homes are still heated with gas.
Europe dependent on Russian gas
Russian gas exports to the European Union have been steadily declining since the start of sanctions against Russia. Gazprom halted gas deliveries to several European customers who refused to pay in rubles. This was the case for Poland and Bulgaria on 27 April. Finland followed on May 21, days after applying to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Then came the turn of the Netherlands and Denmark, on May 30, the day the Europeans decided on an embargo on Russian oil.
For the rest, the majority of Gazprom’s major customers – in Germany, Italy and France in particular – complied with the Kremlin’s demands, hoping to escape the fate of their neighbors.
A prolonged stoppage of deliveries would therefore aggravate the energy crisis in which the European Union is already struggling, with prices soaring and the fear of shortages this winter.
“We must prepare now for further disruptions in gas supply, or even a complete interruption of Russian gas supply.declared Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, during an intervention before the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, on July 6th. It’s obvious: Putin continues to use energy as a weapon”.