Russia halts gas supplies to Germany

In a statement, Gazprom indicated it had discovered "oil leaks" in a turbine during a planned three-day maintenance operation and that "until it is repaired... the transport of gas via Nord Stream is completely suspended".
Russia has slashed its gas deliveries to Europe on several occasions since the start of its offensive in Ukraine in response to Western sanctions, sending energy prices through the roof.

Europe has accused Moscow of using energy for blackmail and worked on securing alternative supplies in order to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.

Gazprom said it had discovered the problems while carrying out maintenance with representatives of Siemens, which manufactured the turbine in a compressor station that pushes gas through the pipeline.

On its Telegram page it published a picture of cables covered in a brown liquid.

Earlier in the day, the Kremlin warned the future operation of the Nord Stream pipeline, one of Gazprom's major supply routes, was at risk due to a lack of spare parts.

"There are no technical reserves, only one turbine is working," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"So the reliability of the operation, of the whole system, is at risk," he said, adding that it was "not through the fault" of Russian energy giant Gazprom.

The turbine-maker Siemens Energy said in a statement that the oil leaks blamed by Gazprom was "not a technical reason for stopping operation".

"Such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site," it said, adding that it was "not contracted for maintenance work".

Following the imposition of economic sanctions over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, Russia has reduced or halted supplies to different European nations, causing energy prices to soar.

The Kremlin has blamed the reduction of supplies via Nord Stream on European sanctions which it says have blocked the return of a Siemens turbine that had been undergoing repairs in Canada.

Germany, which is where the turbine is located now, has said Moscow is blocking the return of the critical piece of equipment.

Berlin has previously accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon.

The announcement by Gazprom comes the same day as the G7 nations said they would work to quickly implement a price cap on Russian oil exports, a move which would starve the Kremlin of critical revenue for its war effort.

Gazprom also announced the suspension of gas supplies to France's main provider Engie from Thursday after it failed to pay for all deliveries made in July.

'Much better position'

As winter approaches, European nations have been seeking to completely fill their gas reserves, secure alternative supplies, and put into place plans to reduce consumption.

Germany said Friday its gas supplies were secure despite the halt to deliveries via Nord Stream.

"The situation on the gas market is tense, but security of supply is guaranteed," a spokeswoman for the economy ministry said in a statement.

The spokeswoman did not comment on the "substance" of Gazprom's announcement earlier Friday but said Germany had "already seen Russia's unreliability in the past few weeks".

German officials have in recent times struck a more positive tone about the coming winter.

Germany's industry consumed 21.3 percent less gas in July than the average for the month from 2018 to 2021, said the Federal Network Agency.

Separately, the G7 group of wealthy industrialised nations said it was working towards a "broad coalition" of support for a price cap on Russian oil, but officials in France urged caution, saying a "final" decision could only be taken once all 27 members of the European Union had given their assent.

"Russia is benefitting economically from the uncertainty on energy markets caused by the war and is making big profits from the export of oil and we want to counter that decisively," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a press conference after the move was announced.

Households on the continent have borne the brunt of rising energy prices, with governments under pressure to alleviate the pain of the resulting high inflation.

On Friday, Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel and energy minister Claude Turmes rowed back from announcing immediate measures to support consumers, stating that the government intends instead to focus on the upcoming tripartite meetings scheduled for 18 to 20 September.