Russia will stop pumping gas to Germany for three days alleging technical reasons

The Russian state gas company Gazprom announced this Friday that on the 31st it will stop pumping gas to Germany for three days to carry out the technical service of the only pumping facility in operation. “On August 31, 2022, the Trent 60, the only operational pumping equipment, will stop for three days to carry out technical service and routine maintenance,” the energy company reported on its Telegram channel. The Russian giant has explained that the only pumping station that is still active will be temporarily paralyzed and that, once the work is completed, the flow of gas will resume at a level of 33 million cubic meters per day, according to the Interfax agency. The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline is key for the supply of gas to central Europe, will not work until September 2, according to the Gazprom company, which has justified this stoppage for “maintenance” reasons. Every time one of these stops occurs, however, analysts fear that Russia will not resume pumping to the EU. More information Germany relies on this gas pipeline to cover internal demand, after another alternative project, the Nord Stream 2, has been definitively parked by the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. The Government of Olaf Scholz has rejected this Friday that a temporary exemption can be approved to revive that second tube, just a few hours after it was suggested by an authorized voice of the Liberals -one of the three Government partners, along with Social Democrats and Greens —, Wolfgang Kubicki. After hearing the news, the price of natural gas in the Dutch TTF market, the benchmark in the European market, set a new all-time high this Friday afternoon at the close, changing to 247.6 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh). The price of this fuel, vital for industry and heating, has climbed another seven euros in the session, a revaluation of almost 3%.