On the back burner: Russia’s energy group Gazprom has drastically reduced natural gas deliveries to Germany.
Image: dpa
According to Russia’s EU ambassador, a complete halt to the severely curtailed gas supplies is also possible – with devastating consequences, in his opinion. Federal Minister of Economics Habeck calls the situation serious, but sees no supply crisis for the time being.
Russia has further reduced its natural gas flows to Germany, but the German government sees no reason for concern. The gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 main pipeline were throttled to 40 percent of the maximum capacity on Thursday night, the Federal Network Agency announced on Thursday. The day before it had been 59.1 percent, which had already meant a significant reduction. Nevertheless, the gas supply remains stable, the agency said: “The security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed.” The Federal Ministry of Economics also reassured. “Currently, the quantities can be procured on the market, albeit at high prices,” said a spokeswoman for Robert Habeck (Greens).
Traders can apparently buy the missing quantities on the spot market from other regions, for example from Norway, the Netherlands or as liquid gas. Even the amounts of storage used as a reserve for fall and winter are still increasing, albeit at a slower pace than before. According to the network agency, the total fill level is around 56 percent after 55.6 percent the day before. The value is higher than at the same time last year, it said.