Gazprom says key pipeline needs work

BERLIN — Europe’s energy crisis loomed larger Friday after Russian energy giant Gazprom said it couldn’t resume the supply of natural gas through a major pipeline to Germany for now. The company cited what it said was a need for urgent maintenance work to repair key components — in an announcement made just hours before it had been due to restart deliveries.

The Russian state-run energy company had shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday for what it said would be three days of maintenance.

It said in a social media post

Friday evening that it had identified “malfunctions” of a turbine and added that the pipeline would not work unless those were eliminated.

The move was the latest development in a saga in which Gazprom has advanced technical problems as the reason for reducing gas flows through Nord Stream 1 — explanations that German officials have rejected as a cover for a political power play following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Fears of a winter shortage have eased somewhat as storage has progressed, but a complete cutoff could present Europe with serious difficulties, analysts say. The European Union needs to step up efforts to reduce gas consumption, said energy policy expert Simone Tagliapietra at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

The continuing interruptions from Gazprom mean that “a winter with zero Russian gas is the central scenario for Europe.” he said.

Germany’s Siemens Energy, which manufactured the turbines, said following Gazprom’s announcement that “such a finding is not a technical reason for stopping operation.”

The European Union has just reached its goal of filling its gas storage to 80 percent, ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline, despite Russian supply cutbacks.