Canada returns turbines for Russian gas to flow back into Europe

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that her government will ship the five withheld turbines from Montreal back to Germany in order to support Russian gas flows to Europe this upcoming winter.

Canada doesn’t want to give any form of excuse to Russia to weaponize his flow of energy to Europe. Of course certain sanctions have to be lifted to make this possible.

Six Siemens turbines were in Montreal for maintenance when Canada announced an embargo against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

At Germany’s request, Ottawa announced an exemption for the turbines in July, and sent one of them over, but Gazprom declined delivery, citing irregularities in shipping or customs documentation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who was in Ottawa this week to sign agreements on developing hydrogen power with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, told CBC that the two they would continue to cooperate on having the five remaining turbines returned.

Ukraine and Germany have accused Russia of holding the EU hostage with gas deliveries. Gazprom has said it would fulfill all of its contractual obligations but cannot be faulted when the EU or Canada impose unilateral embargoes on pumping equipment.

The Siemens turbines for Nord Stream 1, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that bypasses Ukraine, were in maintenance in Canada.

Both Kiev and Canada’s ethnic Ukrainian lobby have protested the decision to return the turbines, saying that it won’t fully enable Moscow to deliver enough gas to Europe.

The price of natural gas in the EU skyrocketed this week, after Gazprom announced it would also be shutting down Nord Stream 1 for repairs between August 31 and September 2, 2022.

Nord Stream 2, which does not use Siemens turbines, has been completed, however it is not operational, as Germany refused to certify it in protest over Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

RT. com / ABC Flash Point Europe Oil & Gas News 2022.