We didn't have long to wait to be once again proven right: on Saturday, Russian gas supplies through the Yamal - Europe pipeline via Poland to Germany had come to a sudden, unexpected, and screeching halt.
While this was merely the latest political move in the escalating game over Europe's energy future, with Putin making it very clear who has all the leverage, Gazprom was quick to deny what is patently obvious, and said that European customers' natural gas requirements were being met as Russia sends gas to western Europe by several different routes, besides the the Yamal - Europe pipeline, which has an annual capacity of up to 33 billion cubic metres.
So the political game over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline ratchets up, with Europe likely to see even less gas despite Gazprom saying that the requests of customers in Europe were being met and that fluctuations in demand for Russian gas were dependent on the actual needs of buyer.
Poland's gas grid operator Gaz-System said on Saturday the Yamal pipeline was delivering gas to Poland via the Kondratki compressor station on the east and Mallnow on the west through "Reverse mode" - meaning it was shipping gas from west to east.
Russian gas export flows have been closely watched as gas prices in Europe have soared amid economic recovery and low inventories.
A gas transit deal between Russia and Poland expired last year, but Gazprom can book the transit capacity via the pipeline at auctions.
We fail to see why there still remains confusion as to what happens next: On Oct 19, Putin made it explicitly clear what so many had though, signaling that no extra gas would flow to Europe without Nord Stream 2.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/europe-edge-after-russia-halts-gas-shipments-yamal-pipeline
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