File Photo: A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. AP
Gazprom said Friday that a gas pipeline to Germany due to reopen at the weekend would remain shut until a turbine is repaired, cutting off indefinitely a key supply route to Europe.
In a statement, Gazprom indicated it had discovered "oil leaks" in a turbine during a planned three-day maintenance operation and that "until it is repaired... the transport of gas via Nord Stream is completely suspended".
The Russian state-run energy company said in a social media post that it had identified ``malfunctions'' of a key turbine along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries natural gas from Western Russia to Germany. It said the pipeline will not work unless these are eliminated.
Early on Wednesday, Gazprom completely halted the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1, in line with an earlier announcement, adding that the stoppage would last for three days.
The company said work was necessary on the only remaining functioning turbine at the Portovaya compressor station at the Russian end of the pipeline but German officials cast doubt on that explanation.
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