Russian gas pipeline leak due to earthquake magnitude explosion

Explosions rocked the Baltic Sea before unusual leaks were discovered in two underwater natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany, seismologists said Tuesday. Some European leaders and experts point to possible acts of sabotage during the energy crisis with Russia triggered by the war in Ukraine.

The three leaks on Nord Stream 1 and 2, which are full of natural gas but do not transport fuel to Europe, have overshadowed the opening of the long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to strengthen the continent’s energy independence from Moscow. .

The first eruption was recorded early Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, said Bjorn Lund, a seismologist at Uppsala University, part of the Swedish National Earthquake Network. The second, more powerful explosion northeast of the island that night was equivalent to a 2.3-magnitude earthquake. Seismic stations in Norway and Finland also recorded the eruptions.

“There is no doubt that this is not an earthquake,” Lund said.

Gas leaks created a white, foamy area on the surface of the water, photos published by the Danish military parade.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the events an “act of sabotage”, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she could not rule it out. They and Polish President Andrzej Duda code-opened a valve for a yellow tube belonging to the Baltic Pipe, a new system that will transport Norwegian gas through Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland.

“The era of Russian dominance in the gas field is coming to an end,” Morawiecki declared. “An era characterized by blackmail, threats and extortion.”

No official has provided evidence for the cause of Nord Stream’s problems, but with growing mistrust in Russia, some fear Moscow will sabotage its infrastructure out of spite or to warn that pipelines are under attack. Leaks in international waters off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden have raised the stakes for whether energy infrastructure is being targeted and led to a slight rise in natural gas prices.

“We can clearly see that this is an act of sabotage, an act that probably means the next step of escalation in the situation we are dealing with in Ukraine,” Moraviki said.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that US officials had not confirmed any sabotage or attack.

Anders Back Nielsen, a researcher at the Naval Operations Center at the Royal Danish Defense College, said the timing of the leaks was “obvious” at the Baltic Tube launch ceremony. He said someone may have sought “to send a signal that something could happen to Norwegian gas”.

Analysts at Eurasia Group said the scale of the damage means Nord Stream’s pipelines are unlikely to be able to bring any gas to Europe this winter, even if there is the political will to bring it online. Russia halted flows on the 1,224-kilometre (760-mile) Nord Stream 1 pipeline during the war, while Germany blocked flows on the parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

“Depending on the extent of the damage, the leaks could mean permanent closures of both lines,” analysts Henning Gloystein and Jason Bush wrote.

They noted that undersea pipelines are designed in such a way that they are not accidentally damaged and leaks are rare.

“Technically, it’s not difficult,” Buck Nielsen said of the potential sabotage. “It just requires a boat. It requires some divers who know how to deal with IEDs.”

“But I think if we look at who is actually going to benefit from the turmoil, and more chaos in the gas market in Europe, I think there is basically only one actor right now that is actually benefiting from more uncertainty, and that is Russia,” he said.

Asked whether the leaks might have been caused by sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “No version can be ruled out.”

This is an unprecedented situation that requires an urgent investigation. “We are very concerned about this news,” he said on a conference call with reporters.

Danish and Swedish maritime authorities issued navigational warnings. On the east coast of Bornholm, the Danish Emergency Management Agency has installed equipment that measures the concentration of gas in the air. “The authorities assess that there are no safety or health risks,” the local police said.

Denmark has also set up a no-go zone to make sure ships avoid leaks. Authorities said ships could lose their buoyancy, and there could also be a risk of ignition above water and in the air.

Nord Stream pipelines have been at the center of an energy clash between Europe and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in late February. Declining Russian gas supplies have pushed up prices, putting pressure on governments to help ease the pain of exorbitant energy bills for homes and businesses as winter approaches. The crisis also raised fears of rationing and recession.

The Baltic Pipe is a prominent component of the European Union’s search for energy security, and the transport of Norwegian gas through Denmark and along the Baltic Sea to Poland is due to begin on October 1.

Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert at the Bruegel Research Center in Brussels, has speculated that the leaks may have been caused by Russian or anti-Russian sabotage.

One possibility, he said, is that Russia will signal that it is “forever separating from Western Europe and Germany” while Poland opens its pipeline with Norway.

“In any case, this is a stark reminder of the vulnerability to gas infrastructure in Europe,” Tagliabitra said.

Andrzej Sikora, head of Poland’s Institute for Energy Studies, said he had been warning of possible attacks on pipeline infrastructure since Nord Stream 1 was created in 2010. He urged steps to ensure the security of the Baltic Pipe, which at some point intersects with both Nord Stream pipelines.

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