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European Union (EU) countries imported no natural gas via the pipeline Nord Stream (also known as Nord Stream 1) from Russia to Germany from the week 36, 2022, to the week 36, 2023, or from September 5, 2022, to September 10, 2023. In the week 35, 2022, the volume amounted to 62 million cubic meters, which was nearly 20 times lower than the figure recorded in the week 21, 2022, or from May 23 to May 29, 2022.

Nord Stream 1 shutdown

At the beginning of September 2022, the Russian energy company Gazprom, which holds the monopoly on the country's gas export market and operates Nord Stream, announced a shutdown of the pipeline for an indefinite time period allegedly due to a gas leak and required maintenance. The shutdown was expected to lead to a rise in gas prices, which have already seen a significant increase due to the war in Ukraine. The pipeline is one of the major gas import routes to the EU. In the first three months of 2022, over 60 percent of pipeline gas imports into the EU came via Nord Stream.

Key facts about Nord Stream 1

Nord Stream was put into operation in 2011 and 2012. The annual capacity of the 1,224-kilometer-long pipeline stands at 55 billion cubic meters. However, between 2018 and 2021, the volume of gas transported via the pipeline exceeded this figure. In 2021, it amounted to over 59 billion cubic meters. A twin pipeline Nord Stream 2 has been constructed in 2021, but its certification process was halted by the German government in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Significant leaks in Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were discovered on September 27, 2022.