Gazprom explains reduction in gas supplies to Europe by force majeure circumstances

Gazprom has sent European companies a notice that it cannot guarantee gas supplies to Europe due to force majeure circumstances . This was reported by Reuters and Bloomberg , citing the letter.

A Reuters source said the notification was related to gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Gazprom's letter was sent out on July 14 and concerned gas supplies starting from June 14. It did not specify the end date of the force majeure. Among the companies that received the letter was the German concern Uniper, the largest importer of Russian gas in Germany. Uniper stated that it did not consider the statement about force majeure justified.

Trevor Sikorski, a representative of the consultancy Energy Aspects, told Bloomberg that the retroactive declaration of force majeure is “unusual, to say the least.” In his opinion, it may indicate that Gazprom does not plan to resume gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 after the pipeline’s scheduled maintenance is completed.

• Gazprom began cutting gas supplies to Europe in May. In mid-June, the company announced a reduction in gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline (the main route for Russian gas supplies to Europe since the start of the war in Ukraine) to 40% of its nominal capacity.
• Gazprom explained this by the delay in returning from repair a Siemens turbine for the Portovaya compressor station in Vyborg. The turbine was sent to Canada for repairs and after the war began it fell under sanctions. Canada later agreed to return the turbine to Russia at Germany's request.
• From July 11 to 21, supplies via Nord Stream were officially completely stopped due to scheduled maintenance. Europe fears that Russia will not resume them, thus resorting to gas blackmail to lift sanctions. Moscow denies using gas for political pressure.