Russian hydrocarbon (Oil and Gas and Coal) Industry: News #4

The Swedes have announced that the second NS2 pipeline is fractured near the NS1 holes.

EDIT

See my post 2 down

Bit more about how BALTOPS22 publicity back in June was eerily prescient

SIMRISHAMN, Sweden (June 10, 2022) Lt. j.g. Chris Bianchi, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8, prepares mock explosives for a pierside training event during exercise BALTOPS 22, June 10, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel James Lanari/Released)
https://sfn.nato.int/newsroom/news-archive/2022/baltops-22-a-perfect-opportunity-for-research-and-testing-new-technology

BALTOPS22 is the premier maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic Region.
The exercise, led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and executed by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), provides a unique training opportunity to strengthen the combined response capabilities critical to preserving freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea.
For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with our Allies and Partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.
Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility.
U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.
STRIKFORNATO, headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, is Supreme Allied Commander Europe’s (SACEUR) premier, rapidly deployable and flexible, maritime power projection Headquarters, capable of planning and executing full spectrum joint maritime operations.
…Story by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa Public Affairs

>>>…BALTOPS 22: A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR RESEARCH AND TESTING NEW TECHNOLOGY
BALTIC SEA – A significant focus of BALTOPS every year is the demonstration of NATO mine hunting capabilities, and this year the U.S. Navy continues to use the exercise as an opportunity to test emerging technology.
In support of BALTOPS, U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet partnered with U.S. Navy research and warfare centers to bring the latest advancements in Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) mine hunting technology to the Baltic Sea to demonstrate the vehicle’s effectiveness in operational scenarios.
Experimentation was conducted off the coast of *Bornholm, Denmark*, with participants from Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Newport, and Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring (MIREM) -- all under the direction of U.S. Sixth Fleet Task Force 68.
BALTOPS is an ideal location for conducting mine hunting experimentation due to the region’s unique environmental conductions such as low salinity and varying bottom types.
It is also critical to evaluate emerging mine hunting UUV technology in the Baltic due to its applicability with Allied and partner nations.
This year experimentation was focused on UUV navigation, teaming operations, and improvements in acoustic communications all while collecting critical environmental data sets to advance the automatic target recognition algorithms for mine detection.
“In prior BALTOPS we demonstrated advanced capabilities to detect, re-acquire, and collect images of mine contacts, and transfer those images in near real-time to operators through the use of a specialized Office of Naval Research UUV,” said Anthony Constable, Office of Naval Research Science Advisor to U.S. Sixth Fleet.
“This year, through the work of NIWC Pacific and NUWC Newport, we are showing that this capability can be integrated into programs of record by executing complex multi-vehicle UUV missions with modified U.S. Navy Fleet assets.”
An additional critical objective was to continue to increase the communication range and data transfer capability in order to give the operators more flexibility in mine hunting operations.
Advancements in communication technology, demonstrated this year, have shown a significant improvement in operating ranges over currently used systems.
This provides additional standoff flexibility to the U.S. Navy in conducting safe mine hunting operations.
BALTOPS also provides a unique opportunity for the U.S. Research, Development, and Acquisition communities to exercise the current and emerging UUV technology in real-world operational environments.
This year featured the current and future programs of record for mine hunting UUVs in the MK-18 and Lionfish systems. Both systems were put through the paces over 10 days of mine hunting operations, collecting over 200 hours of undersea data.
“The major benefit of the BALTOPS experimentation is to provide advanced mine hunting capabilities to the operator in the field.
By exercising the future capabilities, U.S. Sixth Fleet can provide valuable feedback to help guide the Navy acquisition community responsible for mine hunting UUV development and procurement,” said Lt. Joshua Lynn, U.S. Sixth Fleet Experimental Lead for BALTOPS.
“This year we have seen the near- and long-term future in mine hunting UUV technology and we are excited to see how quickly the technology and capabilities are improving.”

And…..here we go…..


https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/sep/29/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-pressure-grows-to-declare-russia-terrorist-state-norway-beefs-up-security-at-gas-sites

Russia-Ukraine war live: new leak found on Nord Stream pipelines as pressure grows to declare Russia ‘terrorist state’
Swedish coast guard find fourth leak; Russia has reached legal definition of ‘terrorist state’ under US law, say international experts
15.03
Fourth leak found on Nord Stream pipelines, Swedish coast guard says
Sweden’s coast guard earlier this week discovered a fourth gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, a coast guard spokesperson told newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
“Two of these four are in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone,” coast guard spokesperson Jenny Larsson told the newspaper.
The two other holes are in the Danish exclusive economic zone, according to a translation of the report published by Reuters.
The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a “robust” response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.
17.52
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Ukraine over the newswires:

An EU official has given a briefing to Reuters saying that an agreement on the next sanctions package against Russia is expected before next week’s EU summit, or at least major parts of the package.
The official went on to tell the agency that they expected the summit to focus on the recent “referendums” carried out by proxy-Russian authorities in occupied areas of Ukraine, possible annexations by Russia, Russia’s nuclear threats and the disruption to the Nord Stream pipelines.
EU leaders are also expected to discuss different ideas for energy price caps at the summit, which the EU official expects to be a tense one “as we are in difficult times”.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has already indicated he is unlikely to back another tranche of sanctions, and recently announced a “national consultation” to see if EU sanctions against Russia had the backing of the Hungarian people.
17.15
Given the tricky nature of pulling off a sabotage attack against the Nord Stream pipelines undetected, most analysts agree that only state actors could have carried it out. Russia has been keen to cast the blame in the direction of the US.
This morning the Russian foreign ministry has, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, issued a brief statement saying that the “incident on the Nord Stream occurred in a zone controlled by American intelligence.”
Overnight the Russian embassy in the US issued a statement on Telegram again drawing attention to “the promises made by President Biden to ‘bring an end’ to the Nord Stream 2 project”, and saying:
We note the attempts by some US legislators to put blame on Russia for the incidents. Perhaps, they have a better view from the top of Capitol Hill.
But if that is the case, they must also have seen the US warships’ activities at the very site of the Russian infrastructure disruption just the day before.
Or noticed drones and helicopters fly over there.
Or observed US navy exercises with underwater explosives that have been conducted in the same area some time ago.
What is obvious to us is that those who ponder about the incident seem to forget to ask the main question: who benefits from the pipelines’ rupture?
For our part, we insist on the need for a comprehensive and objective examination of the circumstances of the unprecedented attacks on Russian pipelines.
Russian sources have repeatedly referenced the words of Joe Biden and his administration earlier this year as the US and Germany threatened that Nord Stream 2 would not be opened if Russia invaded Ukraine.
In January state department spokesperson Ned Price said “I want to be very clear: if Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward. I’m not going to get into the specifics. We will work with Germany to ensure it does not move forward.”
Several days later, on 8 February, at a joint press event with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said that the pipeline project would be ended if Russia put troops on the ground in Ukraine, saying “If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.”
17.01
Danish foreign minister says 'intentional' explosions caused Nord Stream leaks
Denmark’s foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, has said that “intentional” explosions caused the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines, and that it was an “unprecedented” attack.
He told viewers of Sky News in the UK:
It’s clear we all need to be very aware of our critical infrastructure, when it comes to energy and other infrastructure, so we all take, I think, the right precautionary steps. Because it is unprecedented, as I’ve said, we haven’t seen that type of attack on on infrastructure.
Saying that Danish authorities were working closely with their neighbours, NATO and the EU, he added “we all have to look out for, our critical infrastructure.”
He went on to tell viewers that it emphasised the need to end dependency on Russian energy, saying:
It has been clear for us for a long time in Denmark, and also now for the rest of Europe, that we need to get out of any dependence on Russian energy, whether it’s gas, coal or oil, and we’re working very hard to obtain that objective in Europe.
Denmark is doing its part, where we will focus a lot in investing massively in renewable energy, not least the offshore wind and other type of renewables, and also energy efficiency. So that is a course we will not change.”
16.33
Ed Davey, a former energy minister in the UK and currently leader of the Liberal Democrats, the fourth largest political party in the UK’s parliament, has said he believes it is likely that the Nord Stream pipeline will never reopen.
He told viewers of Sky News in an interview that the leaks in the pipelines were “potential Russian terrorism”. He said:
I think we should be very concerned. Listening to Polish and Danish ministers they do suspect this was an act of Russian terrorism, and that it’s another threat from the Kremlin to Europe’s energy supplies.
But we need to stand bold against Russia supporting Ukraine.
And one thing that is some good news is that the pipeline from Norway to Poland that we so long argued for, the so-called Baltic gas pipeline, is going to now open earlier than originally planned.

We have to wonder why are NATO so concerned about out of use Russian pipelines? Another stick to beat Russia?

Maybe Putin will say that it doesn't matter. The EU had decided on reflection that they didn't need it so Russia has written of its $1.3B or so sunk costs and would be moving as much of its infrastructure as it could to support the Far East. He also hopes that the EU companies nursing loses in the order of $8B are OK with it and will sue whoever blew the pipelines to recover their investment.


AZ
@AZmilitary1
·
1h
According to the NATO statement, the gas leak on the "North Streams" was the result of sabotage

NATO countries are concerned about the state of emergency on the "Northern Streams", all signs point to sabotage — statement

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Russia-Is-Flaring-Less-And-Keeping-Natural-Gas-In-The-Ground.html

Russia Is Flaring Less And Keeping Natural Gas In The Ground

When the breakup between Russia and the European Union began earlier this year, one of the reasons for the severity of the EU’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the assumption that Russia could not afford for its gas exports to drop.

The assumption was an enduring one for oil and gas both. A number of analysts toured the media, arguing that if production at an oil or gas field is suspended, this field eventually risks becoming unproductive forever.

While this is a valid argument overall, Gazprom appears to have found a way to avoid permanent loss of gas production, and it’s not flaring, either. In fact, flaring in Russia—a major “flarer”—is down.

This is according to satellite data cited by a Bloomberg report on Gazprom’s production, which has declined substantially since the Ukraine invasion and the EU’s response to it.

Total gas production is down by 473 million cubic meters daily since the start of the year, data showed, to a total of 838 million cubic meters daily, but flaring is also down, at least over the past month, by 28 percent from a year ago. And this, according to the analysts Bloomberg talked to, is because Gazprom is simply producing less. And it has been doing it for years.

Because demand for natural gas is highly seasonal in nature, Gazprom has organized production at its biggest fields in such a way as to be able to increase or reduce it in relatively short order.

“Due to the uneven consumption patterns, Gazprom has to change its production significantly on monthly basis every year,” Vyacheslav Kulagin, a department head at the Energy Research Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Bloomberg. “Gazprom’s several major upstream projects function like gas cylinders, where the tap is sometimes opened to the full, and sometimes significantly turned down.”

This means that the risk of Gazprom losing production permanently may well be limited. However, it does not change the fact that most supply to Europe is now almost certainly permanently gone after the suspected sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.

This decline in Russian gas imports may be in line with the European Union’s plans to wean itself off Russian gas fully, but it will mean a shortage while the weaning-off process is taking place.

According to a report by Rystad Energy, European countries are in for a gas shortage from next year to 2025 if Russia stops all deliveries of gas to the continent. This would change in the second half of the decade thanks to more LNG imports, but over the short term, LNG would not be able to cover the lost Russian supply.

European decision-makers seem to be aware of this and have started promoting demand reduction as an integral part of energy crisis plans. Earlier this year, the EU agreed on a Commission proposal for a 15-percent reduction in EU-wide gas demand this winter, but that was a voluntary cut. Now, cuts are on their way to being made mandatory, despite higher than usual gas-in-storage levels in most of the EU.

Meanwhile, although exports of natural gas to Europe have been decimated, exports elsewhere made up for the lost market: Gazprom reported earlier this month that total exports outside the Commonwealth of Independent States were down by 37.4 percent in the first eight months of the year and production was down by 14.6 percent.

Production flexibility appears to be a winning demand management tool for a commodity whose demand patterns are highly variable depending on the season. And it seems Gazprom is weathering the blow from losing most of the European market better than Europe would like to see.

Last Thursday

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian-owned operator of the TurkStream gas pipeline said on Thursday that the Netherlands had withdrawn its export licence, but it will continue gas transportation, adding that it had requested the resumption of the license.

Russia and Turkey formally launched TurkStream with capacity of 31.5 billion cubic metres per year in January 2020. The pipeline, which allows Moscow to bypass Ukraine as a transit route to Europe, carries Russian natural gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea and Turkey.

South Stream Transport B.V., a subsidiary of Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, is the Dutch-based operator of the offshore portion of the pipeline. South Stream said the Netherlands withdrew the export licence on Sept. 18 amid wider sanctions from the European Union.

"The introduction of new sanctions does not restrict the continuation of gas transportation by South Stream Transport B.V. In this regard, the gas supply of various industries and millions of households in Turkey and European countries will not be affected in the short and long term, it said."

ADDED

The company has already applied for the renewal of the export license and is awaiting a response from the Dutch authorities.
South Stream Transport B.V. stated that they have all legal grounds to receive an exception under the current sanctions regulation of the European Union.
This is due to the fact that the gas that is transported via the Turkish Stream is subsequently supplied to European countries through national gas transmission systems, thereby helping to ensure their energy security.
Sep 30
https://t.me/azmilitary11/22784

GarryB wrote:

Second the underwater nuclear fireball is contained by water pressure , and collapses soon after and is washed away , with no visible traces above water .

Hahaha.... yeah... underwater nuclear explosions are very hard to spot... can you see on in this video... you have to look very very carefully because the actual explosion in this video is out near the horizon....?

Garry, I have a request...can you include the name who you are quoting, in general. I sometimes struggle to understand who said what and for such cases it is rather interesting who made the comment.

franco wrote:https://twitter.com/GazpromEN/status/1576901732096802817/photo/1

Gazprom reports that string B of Nord Stream 2 may still be usable following industrial sabotage.

Somebody needs to go in Baltic and blow up that remaining NS2 pipe as well.

Need to make sure that Germany and Europe never gets cheap gas ever again.