At the same time, two German energy companies – Uniper and RWE – reported that they received a notification of possible force majeure when pumping gas from the Russian Gazprom. Reuters. The letter is dated 14 July.
Gazprom itself has not yet made any statements.
The force majeure clause is standard in employment contracts and defines extraordinary situations that relieve a party from its legal obligations.
According to the agency, Uniper has officially dismissed the report as unfounded. RWE did not disclose the content of the response letter. “Please understand that we cannot comment on details or our legal opinion,” the company said.
A Reuters source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the so-called “force majeure” relates to supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the main gas export route to Germany and beyond.
Bloomberg sources point out that the force majeure warning is indefinite.
“This seems like a sign that supply disruptions could take longer than planned,” says Trevor Sikorsky, head of natural gas, coal and carbon at Energy Aspects Ltd. He said it was “unusual to say the least” to retroactively apply the force majeure clause. Sikorsky estimates that European buyers will object to the notice and seek compensation.
“This move may seem rather strange, since the force majeure announced by the seller in the first place must be beyond the seller’s control, which is controversial given the level of gas weapons since the beginning of the conflict,” said Jean-Christian. Heinz is the founder and former trader of the consulting firm Wideangle LNG. Second, force majeure must be mitigated by mitigation measures that are not so obvious at this stage,” he adds.
“It is also possible that the Russian government is happy to increase the pressure on Europe and use this technical situation as an excuse not to resume supplies,” said researcher Jonathan Stern of the Oxford Research Institute.
The turbine is returning but the deliveries are not?
At the beginning of June, Canada adopted new sanctions against Russia over the military special operation in Ukraine and banned 28 activities related to construction and transportation, computing, accounting and consulting services in the fields of mining, oil products and coal production. chemical products.. Due to new restrictions in Canada, a Siemens gas pumping unit is stuck.
On June 14, Gazprom reduced the capacity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline to 40%, arguing that Canada did not return the turbine after repair.
On July 9, Ottawa decided to return the refurbished turbine after numerous requests from Berlin. Washington supported this decision. The European Commission stated that the Canadian return of the Nord Stream turbine does not violate EU sanctions. According to the news of Kommersant newspaper, the turbine will be delivered to Russia in five to seven days if there is no problem in logistics and customs. Siemens has refused to confirm or deny this information. “There are no comments on shipping,” the German company’s representative told RIA Novosti in an interview.
At the same time, the German Ministry of Economy states that the turbine should only be used from September. This means that the real reason for the decrease in supply cannot be its absence. “This seems to be the first hint that NS1 gas supply may not be able to restart after the end of the 10-day maintenance period,” said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro.
Gas supply via Nord Stream was terminated on 11 July. “The program and work plan have been agreed in advance with the partners,” Nord Stream AG said. They are expected to resume on July 21 after scheduled repairs.
At the same time, Gazprom today reported It’s about the record volume of gas pumped through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. Deliveries are made under a long-term contract between the Russian holding and the Chinese company CNPC.
In the European Union, they announced that they have found a gas to replace Russian gas. hope to increase Gas supply from Azerbaijan increased 2.5 times. “We will increase the volume to 20 billion cubic meters in the coming years. We will increase the volume to 12 billion cubic meters next year,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Baku.