Europe's gas woes deepened on Friday as Russia's state energy company Gazprom said it would halt supplies to the region via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for three days at the end of the month.
The unscheduled maintenance order on the line, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy stand-off between Moscow and Brussels that has already helped send inflation surging in Europe and raised the risk of rationing and recession.
Gazprom said the three-day shutdown was due to the pipeline's only remaining gas compressor requiring maintenance. The move will bring further disruption in the region, particularly for Germany, which depends largely on Russian energy to power its industry.
The announcement came hours after news broke that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would head to Canada next week for a three-day trip aimed at deepening energy ties between the two G7 countries in what is believed to be the first Canada-only trip by a German chancellor.
Germany has already had to give Uniper, its largest importer of Russian gas and the highest-profile corporate victim of Europe's energy crisis so far, a €15 billion ($15.1bn) bailout last month after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing it to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.
The broader economic impact on Germany was highlighted in producer price data released on Friday, which showed in July the highest ever increases both year-on-year and month-on-month, as energy costs skyrocket.
The Nord Stream pipeline had already been running at only a fifth of its capacity, stoking fears that Russia could halt supplies completely heading into the winter and make it more difficult to fill up storage facilities.
After maintenance is complete, and “in the absence of technical malfunctions”, flows of 33 million cubic metres per day — in line with current volumes — will resume, Gazprom said.
This would still be only 20 per cent of Nord Stream's full capacity of 167 million cubic metres per day.
Gazprom said maintenance works at the remaining Trent 60 gas compressor station would be carried out together with Siemens Energy.
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
BELGIUM%20SQUAD
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SPECS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
