Fire in gas plant causes Gazprom to reduce deliveries to Europe
Firefighters spead water on a fire at a Gazprom gas condensate plant near the city of Novy Urengoy in Western Siberia, Russia, Aug. 6, 2021. (Photo by Russian Emergency Ministry via AFP)


Russian energy giant Gazprom has reduced gas exports to Europe following a fire at a processing plant near the western Siberian city of Novy Urengoy.

The transport to Europe via Belarus and Poland has already been halved to 1 million cubic meters per day, according to Russian media reports on Friday.

The Russian gas monopoly had already planned lower transport volumes via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline for the fourth quarter of this year. This pipeline runs from the Yamal Peninsula via Belarus to Germany.

No one was injured in the fire on Thursday that occurred 23 kilometers (14 miles) from Novy Urengoy, the authorities said. The causes are being investigated.

According to earlier information from the company, the affected gas processing plant was earmarked for replacement in the coming years, so experts assume that the company will not repair the damaged facilities.