Nord Stream: Sweden finds fourth leak in “sabotaged” Russian gas pipeline
a fourth gas leak has been found on Nord Stream pipelines that EU leaders have said were deliberately sabotaged.
The Swedish coast guard said they had found the leak on Nord Stream 2, very close to a larger leak found earlier on Nord Stream 1.
It follows the discovery of three leaks earlier this week in the pipeline outside Sweden and Denmark.
The suspected acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea are believed by defense experts to have been premeditated attacks with underwater explosives.
The EU has pledged that any deliberate attack on the continent’s energy infrastructure would be met with the “strongest possible response”.
The EU previously accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon against the West over its support for Ukraine.
But its leaders have stopped short of blaming Russia for the suspected attacks on the pipeline.
Some European officials and energy experts said Russia is likely to blame for any sabotage because it directly benefits from higher energy prices and economic unrest across Europe caused by supply disruptions.
But others cautioned against pointing fingers until investigators can determine what happened.
Russia dismissed suggestions it had attacked its own pipelines as “predictable and stupid”.
Norway – which is not in the EU – has said it would deploy its military to protect oil and gas installations.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline – which consists of two parallel branches – has not carried any gas since late August when Russia shut it down, saying it needed maintenance.
It stretches 745 miles under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg to northeastern Germany. Its dual pipeline, Nord Stream 2, was halted after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Scientists fear that methane erupting from the ruptured pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.
Both contained natural gas that is mostly methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of global warming after carbon dioxide.
The extent of the leaks remains unclear but rough estimates by scientists, based on the volume of gas reportedly contained in one of the pipelines, range between 100,000 and 350,000 tonnes of methane.
– The climate risks from the methane leak are quite large. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 30 times stronger than CO2 in 100 years and more than 80 times stronger in 20 years.”
It is still unclear how long the damage will keep the pipelines out of service.