Russia slashes gas delivery through Nord Stream 1 to Europe
Russia's Gazprom announced it would reduce supply to 33 million cubic metres a day – half the amount it has been delivering since service resumed last week.
Gazprom cited the halted operation of one of the last two operating turbines for the pipeline due to the "technical condition of the engine".
Russian energy giant Gazprom drastically cut gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to about 20 percent of its capacity, German authorities have said.
The Russian state-run company announced on Monday that it would choke supply to 33 million cubic metres a day – half the amount it has been delivering since service resumed last week after 10 days of maintenance work.
EU states have accused Russia of squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow's conflict in Ukraine.
Gazprom cited the halted operation of one of the last two operating turbines for the pipeline due to the "technical condition of the engine".
The German economy ministry dismissed the explanation, saying there was "no technical reason for a reduction of deliveries". Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann spoke on Wednesday of a "power play" by Moscow.
Klaus Mueller, head of Germany's energy regulator, said gas flows had dropped to 20 percent of the pipeline's capacity on Wednesday from 40 percent.
"We'll see today if it stays that way," he said in a statement.
READ MORE: Europe on edge as Nord Stream Russian gas link enters maintenance
EU sanctions
In parallel, Italian energy major Eni said Gazprom had informed the group it would only deliver "approximately 27 million cubic metres" on Wednesday, down from around 34 million cubic metres in recent days.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed EU sanctions for the limited supply.
"Technical pumping capacities are down, more restricted. Why? Because the process of maintaining technical devices is made extremely difficult by the sanctions adopted by Europe," Peskov said.
"Gazprom was and remains a reliable guarantor of its obligations... but it can't guarantee the pumping of gas if the imported devices cannot be maintained because of European sanctions."
Mueller praised consumers and industry for voluntarily reducing energy use, saying that even correcting for warmer summer temperatures, recent consumption had been cut between five and seven percent.
He said this would allow Germany to add to its gas reserves, which currently stand at about 65 percent of capacity.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck outlined targets last week for stocks to reach 95 percent by November 1 ahead of the cold German winter.
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