Blast Hits Russian Pipeline to Germany, EU Supplies OK
- From: "captain." <spammersmustdie@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 11:19:37 GMT
Blast Hits Russian Pipeline to Germany, EU Supplies OK
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2481068,00.html
An explosion in Ukraine knocked out one of the main pipelines exporting
Russian gas to the European Union on Monday, but officials were quick to say
that supplies would not be affected.
A "large explosion" cut the pipeline, which carries Siberian gas through
Ukraine to Germany and other EU clients, said Viktoria Ruban, spokeswoman
for the Ukrainian emergency situations ministry.
The blast occurred at about 1125 GMT close to the village of Luka on a
section south of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, tearing out a 30-meter
(32-yards) length of pipeline and hurling debris 150 meters (yards), she
said.
"It's one of the most serious accidents in recent years," an official from
the Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The official said the blast was likely due to a technical fault.
Emergency services put out a fire at the scene and investigators were
working to uncover the cause of the explosion, Naftogaz said in a statement.
The incident immediately raised fears of gas shortfalls in Europe, which
relies heavily on Russian supplies, but Russia's gas exporting monopoly
Gazprom quickly assured that deliveries would still reach clients.
Assurances
"There will be no disruption in supplies to our consumers. Our export
supplies will continue at full volume," Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman for
Gazprom, said on state television.
Naftogaz also promised there would be no disruptions. "Ukraine's commitments
on transit of natural gas to European customers are being completely
respected," a company statement said.
The emergency situations ministry initially said that gas supplies had been
cut following the blast but later added that a bypass route was used to
ensure continued supplies.
In Poland, a spokesman for gas company PGNiG said the early signs were
positive.
"There was no disruption to gas supplies," Tomasz Fill said. "It is
difficult to foresee the consequences of the explosion for Poland. We are
waiting for official information from Kiev."
The Urengoi-Uzhgorod pipeline has a capacity of 27.9 billion cubic meters
(bcm) of gas a year, Interfax news agency reported -- a sizeable share of
the 87.8 bcm exported to western Europe, according to 2002 figures from
Gazprom.
The pipeline runs more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from Siberia.
Biggest foreign market
The European Union is the biggest foreign gas market for Russia, the world's
leading natural gas producer. Nearly all of Ukraine's energy imports come
via Russia.
The incident revived memories of gas shortfalls throughout western Europe at
the start of 2006 when Gazprom cut off supplies through Ukraine due to a
pricing dispute with the ex-Soviet republic.
The 2006 crisis sparked concerns in the West over the reliability of Russia
as a supplier and accusations that Moscow is using its huge energy reserves
as a weapon against weaker ex-Soviet neighbors.
DW staff / AFP (jam)
.
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