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Opal pipeline complies with order to curb gas flows, reviewing next steps
The Opal gas pipeline in Germany said on Monday it had complied with an order to cut some 40 percent of gas shipments in a case involving Russian supply to Europe and was reviewing its next steps.
Opal – which connects to the Russian-designed Nord Stream pipeline to Germany – was last week ordered to curb flows after Europe’s top court overruled an EU decision allowing Russian gas giant Gazprom to ship more gas via the pipeline.
“OPAL Gastransport (OGT) currently reviews all further steps. Please understand that there is no further comment possible at this point in time,” a note on the Kassel-based operating company’s website said.
Gas market participants are watching cuts on Opal, the onshore link for supplies from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea, to assess how much gas from other sources, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), may be needed to replace them.
Germany’s energy regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, on Friday required OGT to stop auctioning 15.9 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per hour, which OGT started doing Saturday.
That came after the European Court of Justice halved previously allowed volumes after Poland successfully argued that its supply security is infringed by Russia diverting huge volumes directly into Germany.
“(OGT) is not able to specify the consequences on the market,” the statement from Opal, which is controlled by Gazprom and Wintershall DEA.
It also said the court ruling was between the EU and member states so Opal as a company could not challenge it and that it did not know whether its owners were considering challenging it.
Refinitiv Eikon data showed that gas flows into Greifswald, near the landing point of Nord Stream 1, at 1200 GMT were down 19 percent from the level at the same time last Friday, before the cuts, standing at 859 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
Flows on Nel, a second pipeline connected to Nord Stream 1 which feeds north Germany and huge underground storage facilities, were up by 11 percent at 777 GWh.
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