After the Nord Stream shutdown, it was the main supply channel to the EU. What time does it shake
A pipeline carrying methane from Russia to Europe was damaged. And all day after the union reached an agreement on the price cap. A coincidence or a retaliation by Putin against a movement defined as unacceptable?
What is certain is that EU states will have to start dealing with increasingly scarce supplies from Moscow. Indeed, a fire occurred on the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline in Chuvashia, a republic of the Russian Federation between Moscow and Kazan, whose capital is crossed by the Volga River. This was reported by Ria Novosti, who reports on the statements of the Chuvashia Ministry of Emergency Situations according to which the fire was caused by a gas leak. “According to updated data, three people died, one was injured,” reports Tass, citing a source in the emergency services. Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod is a Russian export pipeline, through which blue fuel is supplied from Siberia to Europe. It crosses the Russian-Ukrainian border near the Sudzha station in the Kursk region and is currently the only entry point for gas transit from Russia to Ukraine.
The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, destroyed this morning by an explosion during some maintenance work, is 4,500 kilometers long and transports gas from the Urengoy field in northwest Siberia to Ukraine and then to Europe. The stretch affected by the fire is located near the village of Kalinin in Chuvascia, about 150 kilometers west of the city of Kazan, capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. With the news of the outbreak, the price of gas soared to 114 euros/Mwh at the TTF of 100 euros/Mwh, the lowest value since last June, reached after the green light for the maximum price in Europe.
The pipeline was designed in 1978 and activated in 1984. It enters Ukraine through the Sudzha measuring point and is currently the main channel for Russian gas to reach Europe, including Italy via Tarvisio, as the Nord Stream taps were closed in August. Gazprom plans to pump 43 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine in the next 24 hours, a volume in line with recent days.
Upon entering Slovakia, the pipeline splits. One branch goes to the Czech Republic and the second goes to Austria, from where the gas is routed to Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. The diameter of the pipe is 1.42 meters. The original transport capacity was equal to 32 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Since 1999, the actual annual capacity is 27.9 billion cubic meters. The infrastructure has 42 compressor stations, 9 of which are in Ukraine, whose territory extends over 1,160 kilometers. Other incidents have affected infrastructure in the past. In December 1983, a fire destroyed part of the electronic control system of a compressor station in Urengoy. Four explosions were recorded between 2007 and 2014 in Ukrainian territory.
Source: IL Tempo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
