RE:RE:RE:Price CollapseI think it was who has the most to gain, and we know who that is.German industry was putting pressure on government to get natgas flow restored. With NS1 and 2 both out of commision none of that matters and Russia has lost their most important bargaining lever. It also leaves Russia with a future of lower gas sales for the time being, and only one export customer. That's not a good thing.
The capacity of NS1 was about 5.5 bcfd, about 60% the average daily production of Alberta. No one is talking about is the extent of the damage other than 2 explosions on each line. NS 1 was completed in 2011 and NS 2 last year. NS 1 was operating at reduced capacity and NS 2 was idle but pressurized. So they are both modern lines. In pipelines like this there are usually Emergency Shut Down valves at intervals. Say every 100 kms. The pipelines have instruments that detect pressure drops and excessive flows. There would be both conditions in a rupture. The ESD valves should be activated to shut at a controlled rate to isolate the leaking section of line so the rest of the line is protected from depressuring and water ingress. If these pipelines have been totally flooded as is being reported then someone deactivated the ESD valves. So it would be an inside job as well to disable the ESD system ).