On Friday, Russian state energy giant Gazprom said it would not resume flows through the pipeline on Saturday as planned because it had detected an oil leak at its Portovaya compressor station. The pipeline has been shut since Wednesday for maintenance.
It didn’t give a timeline of when exports might resume.
“Until the issues on the operation of the equipment are resolved, gas supplies to the Nord Stream gas pipeline have been completely stopped,” Gazprom said in a statement.
But Russia has been in an energy standoff with Europe since it invaded Ukraine in late February.
Russia had already threatened to retaliate by banning oil exports to countries that implement a price cap.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline has also been central to the ongoing economic conflict between Russia and the West.
Engie said the shutoff was the result of “a disagreement between the parties on the application of contracts.”
Another cut to its gas supply is the last thing Europe needs as it heads into winter, when energy demand picks up.
Consumer price inflation across the 9 countries that use the euro hit 9.1% last month — its highest level in 25 years — according to an initial estimates by the EU statistics office.
Energy prices were the single biggest driver of inflation, rising 38% in the year to August.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier this week that his country was “much better prepared” to secure enough gas for the winter than could have been imagined a few months ago.
“We can deal quite well with the threats that are coming our way from Russia,” he said.
— Alex Stambaugh, Julia Horowitz, Michelle Toh, Eyad Kourdi, Rob North and Inke Kappeler contributed reporting.
