Mysterious gas leaks in two pipelines between Russia and Europe under the Baltic Sea are pummeling major western economies. As a result, gas prices are rising again.
Gas leak in Russian pipelines
On Tuesday, European nations scrambled to investigate mysterious gas leaks in two Russian pipelines running under the Baltic Sea. The infrastructure near Denmark and Sweden is at the center energy crisis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Following the issue, Sweden’s Maritime Authority warned about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Soon, a leak in the Nord Stream 2 led Denmark to stop shipping in a five-nautical mile region.
The pipelines are a flashpoint in the escalating energy war between Moscow and Europe. It is further increasing the prices. At the time, neither pipeline was pumping gas to Europe owing to disputes over the war. However, it contained gas under pressure. The incidents can hinder efforts to restart to start the pipelines for commercial purposes.
Latest update on the pipelines
The gas leaks are located northeast of Bornholm, an island in Denmark. However, since they are unclear behind the cause, they are keeping a strict watch to ensure ships stay away from the area. “Yesterday, a leak was detected on one of the two gas pipelines between Russia and Denmark – Nord Stream 2. The pipeline is not in operation, but contains natural gas, which is now leaking,” stated Dan Jorgensen, Jorgensen is the energy minister of Denmark. “Authorities have now been informed that there have been 2 more leaks on Nord Stream 1, which is also not in operation but contains gas,” he added.
“There are two leaks on Nord Stream 1 – one in Swedish economic zone and one in Danish economic zone. They are very near each other,” stated a spokesperson for the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA). However, Gazprom did not comment on the issue. “Breaches of gas pipelines happen extremely rarely. We want to ensure thorough monitoring of Denmark’s critical infrastructure to strengthen the security of supply in the future,” stated Kristoffer Bottzauw. Bottzauw is the child of Denmark’s energy agency.