Economy Minister Robert Hambeck (Greens) spoke of a “political nightmare” scenario, referring to the possibility of a shortage natural gas and warned that, if state intervention is needed in the flow, h Germany he will be faced with an “unprecedented test in a long time”. Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock spoke of the “fair” management of such an emergency, while the head of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Mueller referred to “contradictory messages” from Russia.
“Such a scenario (no gas rationing) must be prevented, by saving energy, storing and auctioning natural gas, as social solidarity will be pushed to the extremes and perhaps even beyond”Mr. Hambeck told German Radio and explained that state intervention in private gas consumption is a last resort for the government.
In terms Gazprom’s stance from today until the completion of maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the finance minister admitted that he is unable to predict anything. “Everything is possible, everything can happen. From more gas flowing again to completely stopping the flow (….) Frankly, we have to prepare for the worst and work for the best,” he said.
Also Green Foreign Secretary Annalena Burbock assured for her part that the federal government will do “everything in its power” to ensure that a further shortage of Russian natural gas does not divide society, according to a response from Athens News Agency. “If we have less energy, less heating supply, then we will make sure that things are done in a fair way,” said Ms Burbock from Japan, where she is on an official visit. However, he again rejected the opposition’s request to extend the operating time of the nuclear power plants.
“Russia is unpredictable,” added the foreign minister, “not only in war against Ukrainebut also in terms of compliance with the rules in force, for example in energy supply and for this all the different possible scenarios are being prepared”.
In the same vein, the President of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Mueller spoke of an “uncertain situation” and of “contradictory messages” from Russia. “There are Kremlin representatives who say that, combined with the Siemens turbine (which will be returned repaired from Canada), larger quantities can be delivered again, but there are also very bellicose statements from the Kremlin. To be honest, no one knows,” Müller said in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF.
He appealed again for the greatest possible saving of natural gas. However, he also rejected the scenario of extending the operation of the nuclear plants, since, as he clarified, the heat comes mainly from natural gas.
Gazprom has cut gas supplies to Italy by a third
At the same time, as announced by the Italian Hydrocarbons Group Eni, the Russian Gazprom today reduced by a third the supply of natural gas to Italy.
The Italian energy group announced that “Gazprom has announced that for today it will supply Eni with a total volume of gas corresponding to approximately 21 million cubic meters, while in recent days the average has been 32 million cubic meters.”
The Eni group added that it would provide additional data in the event of a new and substantial flow reduction.
Source: News Beast
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