Russian gas flows to Europe via Nord Stream lift after brief dip

Flows of Russian gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline returned to levels seen in recent weeks on Wednesday, after a dip lower a day earlier, while eastbound flows via the Yamal remain at zero, operator data showed.

Physical flows to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea stood at 29,268,783 kilowatt hours per hour (kWh/h) on Wednesday morning, back in line with volumes of above 29,000,000 kWh/h seen for much of the past three weeks, operator company information showed.

Flows briefly dropped on Tuesday to below 26,000,000 kWh/h, although this was in line with lower nominations, or customer demand.

Russian gas producer Gazprom said last month capacity through the pipeline would be cut to only 40% of capacity due to the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany's Siemens Energy in Canada.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline will undergo regular annual maintenance from July 11 to July 21, when flows usually fall to zero, raising concern over how promptly they will resume afterwards.

Nominations for gas flows into Slovakia from Ukraine via the Velke Kapusany border point stood at 37 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, down from 37.1 mcm on Tuesday, data from the Ukrainian transmission system operator showed.

Gazprom said its supply of gas to Europe through Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point was seen at 41.1 million cubic metres (mcm) on Wednesday compared with 42.15 mcm on Tuesday.

Eastbound gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany, which stopped on Tuesday, remained at zero on Wednesday, data from pipeline operator Gascade showed.

(Reuters)