China receives Russian gas after pipeline maintenance
Germany suspected that the technical issues served only as a cover for Russia to put pressure on Europe to ease Ukraine-related sanctions.
Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom has resumed gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline,. following a week of repair work, the company announced on Wednesday.
The scheduled maintenance work on the pipeline had been completed, the firm confirmed on its Telegram channel.
Gazprom halted gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to maintenance at the beginning of September and then refused to resume delivery. Gazprom said this was due to an oil leak which could only be repaired in Canada.
Before the Nord Stream 1 shut down, Gazprom had already begun channelling less and less gas to Europe, blaming a turbine failure on Western sanctions.
Germany suspected that the technical issues served only as a cover for Russia to put pressure on Europe to ease Ukraine-related sanctions.
Political analysts did not foresee a complete supply stoppage through the Power of Siberia pipeline, however, as Russian and Chinese relations had remained strong through the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In fact, Moscow was looking to expand its gas supplies to China as the West weans itself off them.
In 2022, Russia delivered 15.4 billion cubic metres of gas via the pipeline to China. This year, it expects to send 22 billion.
In total, the capacity of the pipeline was to increase to up to 38 billion cubic metres per year and Moscow also planned to construct another pipeline – Power of Siberia 2.