‘Plunge’ of more than 6% for natural gas – At 165.50 euros per megawatt hour

European natural gas began the week with a “plunge”, after Canada announced that it will return to Germany a turbine for the Russian Nord Stream 1 pipeline, increasing optimism that tensions with Moscow will decrease, as Bloomberg reported.

In particular, the Dutch contract – the European benchmark – on Monday fell more than 6% to 165.50 euros per megawatt hour, after the 19% “jump” it recorded the previous week.

Canada’s move brings relief to Germany and wider Europe as significantly reduced flows through the Nord Stream pipeline, which Moscow attributes to the pipeline’s lack of maintainability, threaten the continent’s plan to fill storage in time for the upcoming winter.

The Kremlin said last week that the turbine would help boost shipments to Europe. Gazprom has been operating the pipeline at just 40 percent capacity since last month, after the turbine was sent to Canada for maintenance and not returned due to Western sanctions against Russia.

The test will take place next week, when the pipeline’s annual maintenance work, which began on Monday, will be completed.

Germany, however, has expressed concerns about whether supplies will continue after the end of pipeline maintenance. Gazprom needs six large turbines to operate the pipeline at full capacity, but not all of the components in Russia are operational because they need maintenance, the company said.

The Canadian government issued a “time-limited and revocable” license to exempt the turbine from sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas industry over its invasion of Ukraine, citing the need to help its ally Germany avoid an energy crisis.