Minus 10 million a day. RF only burns gas

While energy prices are rising in Europe, Russia is burning huge amounts of natural gas.

While gas prices in Europe are breaking records, Russia is only burning its own blue fuel. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European governments began looking for ways to reduce dependence on Russia, which previously supplied 40% of the gas used in the EU. Because of this, the price of gas has increased. The Kremlin is openly blackmailing Europe with a complete stoppage of gas supplies, but there is nowhere to put it, so the Russians thought of nothing better than burning it.

dearest torch

Rystad Energy’s analysis shows that Gazprom LNG Portovaya, a new liquefied natural gas plant located northwest of St. Petersburg, flares about 4.34 million cubic meters of gas every day.

The burning flares were first noticed this summer by residents of Finland’s border region, it turns out the plant burns about 10 million dollars worth of fuel every day.

The plant is located near the compressor station at the beginning of the Nord Stream-1 gas pipeline, where gas is delivered to Germany under the seabed.

Deliveries through this pipeline have been suspended since mid-July. The Russians chalk it up to technical issues, but Germany says it is a purely political move in response to Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, in June, observers noticed a significant increase in the plant’s heat output, probably due to gas ignition.

A similar way to get rid of “excess” gas is a common occurrence in processing plants. This is usually done for technical or security reasons. However, the scale of the fire in Portovaya was a surprise for experts.

“I have never seen such a scale of flaring in an LNG plant,” said Dr. Jessica McCarthy, a satellite data expert at Miami University in Ohio. “In June, we saw a big surge that didn’t go away and remains the same anomalously high level”.

Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to the UK, believes that European efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas “have a strong impact on the Russian economy.” “They don’t have anywhere else they can sell their gas, so they have to burn it,” he suggested.

Consequences of sanctions?

It may also be a result of the trade sanctions imposed by Europe on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. “This kind of long-term flaring could mean that they don’t have some equipment,” said Esa Vakkilainen, an energy professor at LUT University in Finland. “Due to trade sanctions, Russia cannot produce high-quality valves needed for oil and gas processing “Maybe there are damaged valves and they can’t replace them.”

Every day of gas flaring adds costs – and environmental impacts, scientists say. “Although the exact causes of the flare are unknown, the volumes, emissions and location of the gas flare are a visible reminder that Russia dominates the European energy markets,” said Rystad Energy analyst Sindre Knutsson. “There could be no clearer signal: Russia if it wants to, it can lower energy prices one day. Gas is being burned that would otherwise go through Nord Stream 1 or alternative pipelines.”