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Gazprom has declared force majeure on gas supplies to Europe to at least one major customer, according to a letter from the Russian energy firm.
Dated July 14, the legal force of the letter is to shield Gazprom from compensation payments for disrupted supplies.
The letter said Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, could not fulfil its supply obligations because of “extraordinary” circumstances, Reuters reported.
It stated that the force majeure clause, invoked to lift a business from contractual obligations because of factors beyond its control, was retroactively effective from deliveries starting from June 14.
It also reportedly covered supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a major supply route to Germany and beyond, an unnamed source was cited as saying.
Gazprom had no immediate comment.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline is shut for annual maintenance, which is meant to be completed on July 21, but some of Gazprom’s European customers are nervous supplies will not resume.
One of them, Austrian oil and gas group OMV, on Monday said it expected gas deliveries from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to resume as planned.
Even before Nord Stream began maintenance on July 11, Gazprom had on June 14 reduced shipments through the pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany, citing the delay of a turbine being maintained in Canada by equipment supplier Siemens Energy.
