After 10 days of maintenance and fear of a complete halt in deliveries, Russia has resumed exports through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. Nord Stream 1 was closed from 11 July until today early for annual maintenance. But since the beginning of the war, Russia has benefited from rising oil and gas prices. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, has previously expressed a desire for more sanctions against Russian oil, and a deadline for stopping gas imports. Still high exports In 2021, EU countries received 40 percent of their gas from Russia. Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has led to Russia continuing to earn big money. Figures from the Center for Energy and Clear Air show that EU countries have bought Russian fossil energy for more than 70 billion euros, which is equivalent to 712 billion kroner, since the war began on 24 February. In addition, Russia has increased exports to Asian countries, but replacing Europe completely will be difficult, according to an analyst in Rystad Energy to news. – Most of the infrastructure is created to export gas to Europe. Creating new infrastructure to ship to Asia will take a long time, she says. Germany is hard hit Europe and especially Germany, feared that Russia would stop gas supply completely. Germany is one of the countries that will be hardest hit if imports stop completely. But today came the news that gas deliveries have been restored. According to German authorities, the level of deliveries is about 40 percent of capacity. Russia has previously cut 60 percent of gas exports to Germany. They justify it by waiting for a turbine that is in Canada for maintenance and has not been returned. – But the government in Canada has said that they will send back the missing parts. If the turbines come to Germany, it will return to normal levels, says Nikoline Bromander. Most households in Germany use gas to heat their homes. Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP Crisis plans in Europe Yesterday, the EU presented a gas savings plan for fear of halting Russian gas imports. The EU called on member states to cut gas demand by 15 percent between August and March 2023. Ursula von der Leyen, chair of the European Commission, said that a complete halt was “likely” Despite European politicians warning of possible power rationing, more before we get there, according to the analyst. – We are far from rationing if you look at the stock figures, which are at a good level. But if there is a full stop in Russian gas, it will start to erode the numbers, she says. Bromander says that most European countries have crisis plans ready if Russia stops deliveries. – Germany, for example, has set up a crisis plan that consists of three stages. Now they are in stage two. They have fired up all the coal power plants to reach the goal.
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