Russian energy giant Gazprom announced earlier this week that it would further limit the flow of natural gas to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
The news has soared the already high prices of natural gas in Europe, to a height not seen since the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Prices have since settled, but remain about double that of mid-June, when Russia began a series of restrictions on the flow through the pipeline.
Data from Nord stream We have shown that the flow has been reduced to about 20% of the capacity of the pipeline. German officials claim that Gazprom has accused the decline in production due to technical problems. European officials say Russia is using its reduced gas supply as a weapon against Europe as it opposes the war in Ukraine.
To address this gas shortage, the European Union called on member states to reduce gas use by 15 percent on Tuesday, fearing that Russia might eventually cut all deliveries to Europe. rice field.
Germany, Europe’s largest consumer of Russian gas, is in a hurry to build a terminal on the North Sea coast to receive shipments of liquefied natural gas. Melissa Eddie and Stanley Reed report to The New York Times. LNG, arriving by sea tanker from producers such as the United States and Qatar, was once considered an expensive alternative to Russian gas supplied by pipelines. It is now considered the most easily available fuel source to make up for the shortfall.
