With maintenance completed gas flows through Nord Stream again

Nord Stream, a company operated by Gazprom, has completed annual maintenance work on its twin gas Nord Stream pipeline system in the Baltic Sea, which required a temporary shutdown of both pipelines.

Nord Stream AG is a consortium of five companies established in 2005 for the planning, construction and subsequent operation of two 1,224-kilometre natural gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea with a transport capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.

The company said in July that the planned shutdown and maintenance work would take place between August 9 and 17, 2016.

Nord Stream said on Thursday that gas transmission from the company’s Russian upstream-partner will resume on the same day, making the full capacity of the pipeline system available.

Nord Stream AG’s Maintenance Director, Ruurd Hoekstra, said: “A comprehensive, long-term Pipeline Integrity Management Strategy is an essential part of Nord Stream AG’s operations. Thanks to this, and to the expertise of our staff, for the fourth year in a row we are carrying out this planned maintenance work on the Nord Stream twin pipeline system safely and on time, on the basis of state-of-the-art industry standards.”

The company added that regular maintenance work is an essential part of Nord Stream’s long-term Pipeline Integrity Management Strategy.

Mario Nullmeier, Compliance Director at Nord Stream AG, said: “International certification bodies have commended Nord Stream AG’s compliance with top industry requirements for design, integrity, and functional safety, allowing for a smooth-running operation in line with all safety and environmental considerations.”

Nord Stream said that the schedule for these maintenance activities was agreed and coordinated with the company’s upstream and downstream pipeline operators well in advance. The temporary interruption of supplies was factored into the nominations of gas to be transported via Nord Stream to downstream European partners.

The five shareholders of the Nord Stream consortium are PAO Gazprom, Wintershall Holding GmbH (a BASF subsidiary), PEG Infrastruktur AG (PEGI/E.ON subsidiary), N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, and Engie, formerly known as GDF Suez.