'Ask Siemens Energy', says Gazprom on resumption of Nord Stream 1

Russia’s biggest natural gas pipeline to Europe will not resume pumping until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment, Gazprom's Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov told Reuters on Tuesday.
 

Europe is facing its worst gas supply crisis ever, with energy prices soaring and German importers even discussing possible rationing in the European Union's biggest economy after Russia reduced flows westwards.
 

Gazprom on Friday said the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Europe’s major supply route, would remain shut as a turbine at a compressor station had an engine oil leak, sending wholesale gas prices soaring.
 

When asked when Nord Stream 1 would start pumping gas again, Markelov told Reuters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok: “You should ask Siemens. They have to repair equipment first.”

Siemens Energy said it was not currently commissioned by Gazprom to do maintenance work on the turbine with the suspected engine oil leak, but was on standby.
 

The company, headquartered in Munich, Germany, said on Tuesday that it did not comprehend Gazprom’s presentation of the situation.
 

It said an engine oil leak at the last remaining turbine in operation at the Portovaya compressor station did not constitute a reason to keep the pipeline closed.
 

“We cannot comprehend this new representation based on the information provided to us over the weekend,” Siemens Energy said in a written statement.
 

“Our assessment is that the finding communicated to us does not represent a technical reason for stopping operation. Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site,” it added.
 

France is reactivating a disused pipeline in its northeastern Moselle administrative department, originally built for east-to-west flows, to send Germany gas under an energy deal unveiled by President Emmanuel Macron, according to French officials.
 

France will be able to deliver 130 gigawatt hours (GWh) per day, a tiny fraction of German needs, French energy ministry officials have previously said, while Germany will be ready to provide France power in the event of tight supplies mid-winter. 
 

Blasts rang out and power was cut in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city housing Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Tuesday, hours before a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that could shed light on the threat of catastrophe.
 

Both warring countries accuse each other of risking a nuclear disaster by shelling the Zaporizhzhia plant, which invading Russian forces seized early in the conflict but which is still operated by Ukrainian technicians. It is located at the frontline on a Russian-held bank of a reservoir and across the water from Ukrainian-held positions.
 

Dmytro Orlov, the Ukrainian mayor of the surrounding city of Enerhodar who operates from outside Russian-held territory, said on social media that a powerful explosion had rung out shortly after noon. Residents were left without power or water.

Moscow repeated its longstanding accusations that Ukrainian forces had been shelling the plant.
 

 US intelligence has assessed that Moscow is buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, the New York Times reported, on the heels of reports that the Russian military has begun using Iranian-made drones.
 

US officials said they could confirm that the New York Times reporting was accurate and that additional Russian purchases of North Korean military equipment were expected.
 

“The Russian Ministry of Defence is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use on the battlefield in Ukraine,” an official said by email when asked about the paper’s report.
 

The official said the purchases indicated that the Russian military “continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions.”
 

The Times quoted U.S. government officials as saying that the purchases showed U.S.-led sanctions had begun to bite and to reduce Russia's ability to sustain its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow has called a ‘special military operation’.