Siemens ready to fix pipeline fault: Gazprom

Siemens, however, says it has not been asked to do job

MOSCOW:

Russia’s Gazprom said on Saturday Siemens was ready to carry out repairs on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline but there was nowhere available to carry out the work, a suggestion Siemens denied and said it had not been asked to do the job.

Gazprom’s statement came a day after it said it would not resume gas supply to Germany via Nord Stream 1 until an oil leak it said it had detected in a turbine was fixed. It said the repairs could only be carried out at a specially fitted workshop.

The Kremlin has blamed Western sanctions for disrupting Nord Stream 1 and putting barriers in the way of routine maintenance work. Western officials have rejected this claim and Siemens Energy said sanctions do not prohibit maintenance.

Before the latest round of maintenance, Gazprom had already cut flows to just 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.

“Siemens is taking part in repair work in accordance with the current contract, is detecting malfunctions ... and is ready to fix the oil leaks. Only there is nowhere to do the repair,” Gazprom said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Saturday.

Siemens Energy said it had not been commissioned to carry out the work but was available, adding that the Gazprom reported leak did not normally affect the operation of a turbine and could be sealed on site.

“Irrespective of this, we have already pointed out several times that there are enough additional turbines available in the Portovaya compressor station for Nord Stream 1 to operate,” a spokesperson for the company said.

Flows through Nord Stream 1 were due to resume early on Saturday morning. But hours before it was set to start pumping gas, Gazprom published a photo on Friday of what it said was an oil leak on a piece of Nord Stream 1 equipment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2022.

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