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A major gas pipeline from Russia to Europe has been shut down for what have been called routine repairs, but there is concern that it may not be restarted anytime soon. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs beneath the Baltic Sea and delivers much of Russia’s natural gas to the continent. No country is more worried about an extended shutdown than Germany, given that country’s well-documented energy dependence on Russia’s gas and oil. It receives roughly 35% of its natural gas for industrial usage from Russia. While the EU has debated an outright ban on Russian oil due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany may be forced to choose between standing alongside the coalition supporting Ukraine, and its own energy needs. Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan says the Germans are in a precarious situation because of their reliance on Russian energy and a rapidly aging workforce. He warns this could mark the beginning of the end for Europe’s biggest economy.
Excerpted from Peter’s July 11 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
Germany shut down the Nord Stream 1 Pipeline today for a pre-scheduled 10-day maintenance period. Whether or not Russian natural gas will resume westward flows to Germany after repairs are made is anybody’s guess. The 55 bcm/yr pipeline is a key component of the energy détente forged between Germany–the economic and manufacturing heart of Europe–and post-Cold War Russia. It has also inculcated a German dependency on Russian gas that has shaped German economic and security policy (and, by extension, Europe’s) since the project first entered the planning phase over 20 years ago.
