Germany has reduced its dependence on Russian gas. For its part, Moscow has drastically reduced deliveries. But Gazprom’s funding continues. But because there are no buyers, the raw material must be destroyed, according to a report, which is visible from afar
According to a BBC report, Russia is burning huge amounts of natural gas near the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which is hardly filled at the moment. The flame at the Portovaya compressor station northwest of Saint Petersburg can be seen as far as neighboring Finland and is clearly visible on satellite images. It is said to be gas that was intended for export to Germany but cannot be discharged elsewhere at the moment due to the lower utilization of the pipeline.
Gas flaring in processing is not uncommon. According to the BBC, however, experts were amazed at the amount. According to the report, the industry service RystadEnergy assumes that 4.34 million cubic meters of gas go up in smoke there every day – that corresponds to a value of around ten million euros a day and corresponds to around 0.5 percent of the daily requirement in the EU.
Germany’s ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, told the BBC that the flaring had been observed for some time. This shows that the reduction in the share of Russian gas in German consumption from over 50 percent to around 10 percent is having an effect and is having a strong impact on the Russian economy. “Because they have nowhere else to sell their gas, they have to burn it,” he said.
According to Russian information, Nord Stream 1 is currently only 20 percent utilized due to a lack of turbines. This means that around 33 million cubic meters of gas are pumped through the Baltic Sea to Germany every day. The cutbacks, justified by the Russian side with technical necessities, have led to a further massive increase in gas prices.
Russia recently announced that it would interrupt gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 for three days from August 31. The last remaining turbine at the Portovaya compressor station will then be serviced on site by Siemens experts. There are fears on the market that the gas flow from Russia, which has already been severely restricted, could stop completely if deliveries are not resumed after the break. Russia says it wants to meet its delivery commitments.
According to calculations by Professor Esa Vakkilainen of the LUT University in Lappeenranta, Gazprom may have burned gas worth €1,000 an hour in the past two months. That damages the atmosphere. “It’s also a big environmental problem – especially for the North Pole region, where this soot definitely has an impact on global warming,” the expert said. The Rystadt experts also see it that way. “The flaring is an environmental disaster that releases around 9,000 tons of CO2 every day,” they stressed.
Russian energy giant Gazprom does not confirm that unsold gas is being flared. The state-owned company announced that storage facilities in Russia would be actively replenished for the autumn and winter. They are 91.4 percent full.