The expert assessed the results of the Nord Stream inspection: it will take years to restore

“At the cost of the work, they can make up half the cost of construction – more than 3 billion euros”

The Nord Stream operator has completed the initial collection of data from the site of the pipeline damage in Swedish waters. Nord Stream AG has published the results of the inspection. The report says that man-made craters with a depth of 3-5 meters were found at the bottom of the sea. The fragment of the pipe between the funnels, follows from the report, is completely destroyed. The radius of debris spread is at least 250 m. According to the head of the analytical department of AMarkets Artem Deev, such damage can be called catastrophic.

– Based on the published results, can the damage be considered serious?

“The damage is not just serious, it’s catastrophic. For comparison: if a leak is detected in a gas pipeline (this may be the result of a crack several millimeters in size), this already serves as a basis for stopping gas pumping until the leak is repaired. And here 250 meters of the pipe were destroyed, and only one. After all, so far only the Swedish section of the Nord Stream MGP has been surveyed, and the damage on the second string, laid in Danish waters, has yet to be assessed. But the ship “Nephrite” has not yet received this permission.

– Who should be involved in the repair and why? Russia or the West? Who should pay for the repairs?

– MGP Nord Stream is an international project. Companies from Russia (Gazprom), Germany (Wintershall, E.ON Ruhrgas), the Netherlands (Gasunie) and France (GDF Suez) participated in its construction. Accordingly, the decision to repair the gas pipeline should be collegial. But, of course, everything will depend on the results of the investigation of this emergency, it is necessary to find those responsible for the sabotage. And this is already a matter of politics: if in Europe they insist that the sabotage was committed by Russia, then in the end the Europeans will restore the IHL at the expense of Gazprom (or count on it).

– Are the disabled gas pipelines subject to repair, and how soon can they be returned to working condition?

– The gas pipeline (both lines) can be repaired, but this is not an easy process. Both pipes are filled with water for many kilometers, and the total duration of the IHL is more than 1.2 thousand kilometers, most of the route runs along the seabed at a depth of 200 meters. Either this will be underwater work, or the pipes need to be raised to the surface and laid again. And there are also seasons of storms when such work cannot be carried out in the Baltic. There are sanctions due to which foreign participants will not be able to carry out work (more than 100 ships from different countries participated in the construction of the joint venture). According to Gazprom, the repair of the MGP may take from one to several years. And at a cost, such work can amount to half the cost of construction (ie, more than 3 billion euros). The total cost of the construction of two Nord Stream lines is 7.4 billion euros.

– Can Nord Streams go down in history forever?

– This is possible if Europe, despite the energy crisis, insists on completely replacing Russia in the natural gas market with other suppliers. This will take several years. It all depends on how ready the EU is to put up with rising inflation due to high gas prices, with the destruction of its economy, and so on. This is again a matter of politics, since the economic losses from such decisions are obvious to everyone. But, as we see, the EU is deliberately committing economic suicide for the sake of its political goals. So the fate of Nord Stream will be decided through negotiations between the governments of the countries that have implemented this project. The anti-Russian rhetoric of Europe, of course, will complicate the process. If Europe is generally ready to discuss the issue of gas supplies from our country, this is not guaranteed.