Page 11 - NorthAmOil Week 28 2022

NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil

then to Russia – a journey which is anticipated Europe remains conflicted over imports on
to take at least two weeks. A few more days will Russian energy, on the one hand hoping to put
be needed to install the turbine at the Portovaya the Russian budget under extreme pressure by
compressor station that handles Nord Stream’s cutting off the imports, and on the other being
gas. heavily dependent on the import of Russian fuels
This means that even if Nord Stream 1 comes to power many economies.
back on stream on July 21, its capacity will Kyiv has been calling on Europe to bite the
remain constrained for the rest of the month. bullet and completely cut off Russian oil and gas
A further five Nord Stream turbines are due imports.
to be sent off to Siemens Canada for repairs over Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galush-
the next two years. chenko in June lobbied Canada not to return the
However, Gazprom’s statement will only turbine to the Russian natural gas giant, accord-
stoke fears that it will take even longer to increase ing to a letter seen by Reuters.
the gas flows through Nord Stream, as many are “There are seven turbines, this is only one
afraid the Kremlin is simply looking for excuses of them, and those that are now operating are
to reduce those flows to put pressure on Europe sufficient for full capacity,” the energy ministry
ahead of the heating season. Nord Stream 1 went source said.
offline on July 11 for its annual 10 days of mainte- Ukraine has accused Moscow of using nat-
nance work, but if it is not restarted, or restarted ural gas supplies as a weapon to put pressure on
at even lower gas flows, Europe could be facing a Kyiv’s European allies to dampen their support
major energy crisis at the end of summer. for Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s February 24
invasion.
Ukraine lobbies against gas imports
The status of the equipment remains up in the End of coal imports
air. Approached by the Globe and Mail, Siemens Berlin took another step closer to completely
Energy spokesperson Ann Adair said the com- ending its dependence on Russia’s hydrocarbons
pany had no comment to make on the sanctions on July 13, announcing that it would end all coal
exemption. The press secretary to Canadian For- imports on August 1 and the import of oil and
eign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly could neither gas by the end of this year.
confirm or deny the two-year timeframe, but “We will be off Russian coal in a few weeks,”
said “these turbines follow a regular mainte- Joerg Kukies, state secretary in the German
nance schedule, which was passed due to sanc- federal chancellery, said at the Sydney Energy
tions.” “The maintenance schedule now restarts Forum, co-hosted by the Australian government
for a limited period of time. However, the minis- and the International Energy Agency (IEA),
ter can revoke the permit at any time,” the press reported Reuters.
secretary said. Russian previously supplied 40% of Germa-
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yulia ny’s coal and 40% of its oil, he said.
Kovaliv, expressed disappointment, noting that “Anyone who knows the history of the Dru-
“the revenues from gas and oil are directly sup- zhba pipeline, which was already a tool of the
porting the Russian military. To waver even for Soviet empire over eastern Europe, ridding your-
two years, and showing Gazprom can get what self of that dependence is not a trivial matter, but
it wants, is a dangerous precedent,” she said in it is one that we will achieve in a few months,”
an interview on July 12. “They are stamping the Kukies said.
status quo on weaponising energy.” Ukrainian A ban on coal imports to Europe was part of
advocacy group, the Ukrainian World Congress, the fifth package of sanctions introduced earlier
has filed a legal challenge to the government’s this year and the first time that Russian energy
decision in federal court. In the challenge, the exports were targeted. However, even banning
group said that the permit was “unreasonable, coal imports proved controversial, and several
unjustifiable and contrary to the stated purpose EU members resisted the sanctions in an effort
of Canada’s sanction regime.” to protect their economic interests.™

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