Russia’s gas pipeline network faces reality check

In recent weeks Russia has announced a number of high-profile export-oriented gas pipeline projects, notably the Europe-bound Nord Stream and South Stream, the China-bound Altai route, and the Caspian pipeline in Central Asia. However, all these pipelines will be connected with the existing Gazprom pipeline network. Therefore, the successes of these ambitious projects will depend on the state of Gazprom’s aging pipelines.

The latest gas pipeline accident came as a reminder that the network still faces technical problems. On July 26, a gas pipeline exploded in the Vsevolozhsky district north of St. Petersburg. The blast reportedly shook buildings up to five kilometers away and caused a huge fire that lit up the night sky. The explosion damaged 50 meters of the pipeline.
However Finnish consumers have reported some difficulties. “The explosion and fire of a gas pipeline in Russia near St. Petersburg cut gas supplies to Finland for about six hours,” the Finnish gas company Gasum said in a statement. “Gazprom informed Gasum immediately after the explosion happened. The parallel pipeline to Finland was temporarily out of use due to repair work, but was quickly fixed by Gazprom”

Russian regulators also noted safety problems at Gazprom’s facilities. On July 30, the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological, and Atomic Oversight (Rostekhnadzor) announced the results of inspections at Gazprom’s production and pipeline subsidiaries. Inspections discovered a total of 1,025 safety violations at nine subsidiaries, including three pipeline outlets: Samaratransgaz, Yugtransgaz, and Tyumentransgaz, Rostekhnadzor said in a statement

Gazprom has conceded that it did not make sufficient investments in maintaining its gas pipelines during 1992-2002. Many pipelines are 30 or more years old. Amortization of major pipelines has been estimated at 56% by Gazprom, and at nearly 80% by Russian pipe producers. In early 2002, Gazprom drafted a program to invest no less than 50 billion rubles ($1.96 billion) a year to maintain its pipeline network.

Eurasia Daily Monitor