Biggest Natural Gas Leak in Nearly a Decade from a Gazprom Pipeline in Southern Russia and a Massive Pipeline Explosion in Another Part of Russia

 

     Rextag reports that a massive gas leak occurred on April 9, 2024, in Southern Russia. They reported: “The emission originated from the Gazprom-operated Krasnodar Krai-Serpukhov Gas Pipeline near the Krasnodar and Rostov border in Russia, at a small facility installed as part of an expansion project completed in early 2015 that appears to be a small metering or pipeline servicing station. This pipeline segment is part of a multiple line right-of-way that serves the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines, both of which export Russian gas to Turkey.”

 

 

Source: Rextag

      Russia has long been at or near the top of countries leaking methane into the atmosphere. State-owned Gazprom leaks are notorious. Now we have satellites that can better pinpoint leak sources and better estimate leak rates. Carbon Mapper analyzed the satellite data and estimated the Southern Russia leak at nearly 2BCF per hour, the largest global leak recorded since 2016. The duration of the leak is unknown but if it lasted one hour the following graphic shows some equivalent emissions.

 

 Source: Rextag

The leak occurred at a small metering station that serves two large pipelines that deliver Russian gas to Turkey, the TurkStream and the Blue Stream pipelines. Although the source of the leak is about 100 miles from the front line of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, there is no evidence that the leak resulted from an attack.

 

The Gas Pipeline Explosion in the Saratov Region

     On June 15, 2024, a large gas pipeline explosion occurred in the Saratov region south of Moscow. Russian authorities claimed that this was not the result of an attack or sabotage, but a result of “abnormal heat” in the area that led to the pipeline losing “tightness.” The gas line is a large trunkline. A different section of the same trunkline suffered a similar explosion in September 2023. Although it is quite common for Russian authorities to lie about event causes, it appears in this case that the cause given is correct. Gazprom noted in their most recent environmental report that three accidental trunkline leaks occurred in 2023, including one that flared about 120 MMCF of gas.

 

Gazprom’s Woes and Strategies

     Gazprom’s production and finances have been hampered due to sanctions and that may result in less emphasis on safety. Gazprom’s exports to EU countries in particular have sunk and will likely continue to sink, even though there are sometimes increases due to imports of both Russian pipeline gas and LNG to more “friendly” countries like Hungary and Turkey. Before the conflict, Gazprom was in excellent financial health with revenues expected to remain robust and increase further with the Nordstream 2 line that was expected to supply Germany. Russian strategy has been to evade sanctions as much as possible and to supply discounted gas and oil to China, India, and a few other countries. This has helped them fund the war effort. Gazprom reports that it may take more than a decade to recover lost revenues as a result of the conflict and their prime focus will be supplying gas to Asia. Before the war, Putin was openly using natural gas as a weapon, restricting flows to influence prices and other mafia-style shenanigans. Sanctions have also meant that turbines to move the gas through the pipelines and spare parts are cut off or hard to find. Russian LNG exports via state-owned Novatek are expected to grow and eventually eclipse pipeline exports. However, the constraint on parts and technology could hamper Russian LNG growth as well.

 

The Russia-Ukraine War is Exacting a Huge Environmental Toll

     Russia has managed to damage or destroy all the gas-fired power plants in Ukraine in a deliberate effort to deprive people of basic necessities, an undisputable war crime. Ukraine has also bombed some Russian energy infrastructure, mostly oil infrastructure, in an effort to disrupt the Russian war economy and fuel supply for the war. Ukraine has been using drones to strike oil storage depots. These are mostly legitimate war targets.

     From an emissions perspective, pipeline gas is much better than LNG. Thus, argued some, the Nordstream 2 was a smart choice for Germany and the other countries that would have benefitted from it. Unfortunately, the Kremlin would rather make Russia a country that cheats, manipulates, invades other countries, and is wholly untrustworthy on the international stage. Due to this behavior, the Europeans had no choice but to disavow Russian hydrocarbons. If countries like India, China, and Turkey would cooperate more to support the sanctions, that could help cut off the war financing. The proposed Siberia 2 pipeline to China, not yet even fully agreed upon, will not displace lost European gas revenue, especially as the negotiated pricing is much lower than the European pricing was. That line is expected to supply about 4.8BCF per day to China but it will be years before it is in service.  

     Of course, Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil depots also damage the environment and increase emissions. However, they also slow down the enemy invaders getting much-needed fuel to the front lines. Other events, like the Russian bombing of the dam in Southern Ukraine, have been very environmentally destructive.

 

References:

Exclusive: Rextag Reports on Massive Gas Pipeline Leak. Rextag. June 11. 2024. Exclusive: Rextag Reports on Massive Gas Pipeline Leak

Russian gas pipeline hit by explosion and fire nine months after similar incident. Vladimir Afanasiev. Upstream Online. June 17, 2024. Russian gas pipeline hit by explosion and fire nine months after similar incident | Upstream (upstreamonline.com)

Fire at drone-hit Russian oil depot rages for second day. Reuters. June 19, 2024. Fire at drone-hit Russian oil depot rages for second day (msn.com)

Gazproms Struggles: The Impact Of The Ukraine War On Russias Gas Giant. Brett Hurll. Global Financial Market Review. June 5, 2024. Gazproms Struggles: The Impact Of The Ukraine War On Russias Gas Giant - Global Financial Market Review (gfmreview.com)

Russia's Gas Giant Reports Costly Impact of Putin's War. Brendan Cole. Newsweek. June 5, 2024. Russia's Gas Giant Reports Costly Impact of Putin's War - Newsweek