FRANKFURT/LONDON - Russia will halt gas supplies via a major pipeline to Europe on Wednesday intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region's richest countries.
Further restrictions to European gas supplies would heighten an energy crunch that has already sent wholesale gas prices soaring over 400 per cent since last August, creating a painful cost-of-living crisis for consumers and businesses and forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden. Gazprom said the latest shutdown is needed to perform maintenance on the pipeline's only remaining compressor.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on a mission to replace Russian gas imports by mid-2024, earlier this month said that Nord Stream was"fully operational" and that there were no technical issues as claimed by Moscow. The reduced flows via Nord Stream have complicated efforts across Europe to fill up vital gas storage facilities, a key strategic goal to make it through the winter months, when governments fear Russia may halt flows altogether.
At 83.26 per cent, Germany is already within reach of an 85 per cent target for its national gas storage tanks by Oct 1, but it has warned that reaching 95 per cent by Nov 1 would be a stretch unless companies and households drastically cut consumption.