Europe is on edge as the Nord Stream 1 undersea natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany has gone offline for a 10-day maintenance period. Although European efforts to wean the continent off Russian fuel and energy continue, a large portion of Central Europe remains reliant upon Nord Stream 1. Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic receive gas by way of Nord Stream 1, and despite the European sanctions now in place against Moscow, Germany continues to obtain 30% of its natural gas from Russia. Until Germany and other European nations can remove the albatross from around their collective neck that is the dependence on Russian energy, Russia can use this to its advantage. In fact, it already is. Last month Gazprom reduced the westward flow of gas by 60%. The move sent energy prices surging and forced Germany to initiate the second stage of its emergency gas plan.
Naturally, German officials are becoming concerned Russia might use this pre-scheduled maintenance period to shut down the pipeline completely. Germany has been moving to fill its gas storage reserves by November to increase supplies for the winter. If Russia halts the gas flow entirely, a recession will become inevitable. This means the gas crisis Germany has been working hard to avoid will become a reality by the end of the year. Think tanks in Europe have become serious lately, analyzing the data, modeling the situation, and drawing conclusions on the matter. Some conclusions are more realistic than others, at least in my opinion. But a consensus has emerged that for Germany to weather the coming winter with only non-Russian gas supplies, consumption will need to be significantly lower than it has been in recent years.
The German and Russian governments both realize this as well.
Today's Defense & International Relations Topics 