Friday, March 29

Europe depends on many more gas pipelines than Nord Stream. And now he contemplates with fear more sabotage


Three unprecedented leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines have once again put Europe on alert. The large size of the holes is evidence of sabotage, but it is still unclear who was responsible or what their motivations are. Fortunately, neither of the two affected pipelines was operational. The same does not happen with the rest of the gas pipelines that come from Norway. They account for 25% of the European gas supply.


Making a hole 70 meters deep in the water is not easy. According to the Swedish Seismological Institute there were several explosions. The first one southeast of Bornholm, with a magnitude of 1.9 and around 2:03 in the morning. The next one around 7:04 p.m. on Monday, with a magnitude of 2.3.

Keep in mind that the pipeline has a 4.1-centimetre steel wall and is lined with reinforced concrete up to 11 centimetres. Each section of the pipe weighs 11 tons, which increases to 25 tons without taking into account the coating.

A sabotage that puts Europe in check. Beyond investigating the causes, the repair will be another problem. Nord Stream AG is a company crippled by sanctions and almost without staff. If the viability of these two huge gas pipelines was in question, with this sabotage their future is darker than ever.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has explained that “it is now time to investigate the incidents and get full clarity on the events and why. Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response.”

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The Baltic in the spotlight. After the leaks were detected, the Danish Directorate General for Energy activated the emergency in the electricity and gas sectors at an orange level, the second highest on a scale of five. But the reactions have not been long in coming and all the Baltic countries have been put on alert. If someone has managed to attack Nord Stream 1 and 2, the rest of the gas pipelines could also be affected.

Norway is the main supplier of gas to the rest of Europe, with more than 4 million barrels per day. While the Nord Stream gas pipelines were paralyzed, Europe does have Nordic gas for this winter.

Drone exclusion zones. The Norwegian energy minister has explained that they will redouble the security of their oil and gas facilities, as well as monitor drone movements. Precisely the Norwegian oil authority has warned of its dangers. All gas installations have an exclusion zone of 500 meters horizontally and vertically to avoid drones.

In a statement, they explain that they had “recently warned/reported about a series of sightings of drones/unidentified aircraft near offshore facilities”, and urge “greater vigilance by all vessel operators and owners”.

It has coincided with the inauguration of the Baltic gas pipeline. The three leaks have happened when another important gas pipeline has been launched. These days the leaders of Norway, Denmark and Poland met to inaugurate the Baltic gas pipeline, which connects the named countries. “The era of Russian domination in the field of gas is coming to an end, the era that was marked by blackmail, threats and extortion,” explains Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

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This gas pipeline will be brought forward one month according to the planned schedule due to the increase in work by the Danish authorities, and the date of its start-up will be at the end of November, instead of in January. The project has been underway for a few years and was Poland’s plan, once its contract with Gazprom ran out at the end of 2022.

The Baltic gas pipeline will cover, as agreed, 15% of annual Polish demand, although its total capacity is four times higher. Up to 10,000 million cubic meters of gas per year. By comparison, the affected Nord Stream 1 is much larger, with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas.

Who can be behind something like this. Here we enter the field of speculation. Instead of the who and why, perhaps it is interesting first to look at the how. The holes in the gas pipelines have not been fortuitous. According to an expert consulted by Tagesspiegel, divers or a submarine would be needed to damage the pipes. The Bornholm leak occurred at a distance of about 12 nautical miles from international waters.

According to him submarine expert HI Sutton, the main Russian submarines are operating in other seas and would hardly have been able to carry out such an action. It does not rule out the possibility of autonomous underwater vehicles, developed in centers such as Saint Petersburgjust opened.

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To the United States points out the former Polish defense minister, Radek Sikorsky. In relation to the European NATO ally, according to Spiegel, the CIA recently warned Germany about a possible attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.

It is too early to know the reasons, but what does seem clear is that the Nordic countries and Europe have taken note of the warning. The leaks from the Nord Stream will not affect the gas supply, but other accidents in the rest of the gas pipelines could have a more serious effect.

Image | norskpetroleum



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