Gazprom has announced a three-day delivery pause for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from August 31 due to maintenance work. This feeds fears that the gas flow from Russia, which has been severely restricted, could dry up completely. The already high price shoots to an all-time high.
The fear of a lack of gas deliveries from Russia is driving the gas price higher and higher. The European natural gas future for delivery in September rose by around ten percent in the afternoon to a record high of 343 euros per megawatt hour.
The Russian exporter Gazprom announced last week that it would interrupt gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline from August 31 for three days due to maintenance work. This fueled fears that the gas flow from Russia, which had already been severely restricted, could stop completely if deliveries were not resumed. However, Gazprom itself had stated that operations should be resumed at the previous level after the maintenance if there were no technical problems.
Currently, the pipeline is only 20 percent utilized with a gas flow of 33 million cubic meters per day. As a reason, Gazprom also called necessary maintenance work. Gas prices in Europe have more than tripled since the beginning of the year. According to experts, there is still no end in sight. In October, gas prices are likely to jump up again when many suppliers in Germany raise the gas levy for the first time, said Commerzbank economist Christoph Weil.
