Explained | The Nord Stream pipeline leaks: what happened and what is at stake? 

Europe looks at a harsh winter as hopes that Nord Stream pipelines would open up in the next few months are dampened due to extensive damage to the pipelines caused by four successive leaks 

The story so far: As gas bubbled up in the Baltic sea for the fourth day on Thursday, September 29, another gas leak, the fourth successive one, was reported by Sweden in the already damaged Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia and Europe. Three leaks were reported at different points in the pipelines since Monday. Two of the leaks were in Swedish waters while the other two were reported from Danish waters.

The European Union said they suspected “sabotage” behind the leaks without naming anyone and the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the ruptures to the pipelines took place in territory that was “fully under the control" of United States intelligence agencies. While the EU promised a “robust” response to any international disruption to its energy infrastructure, Russia requested the United Nations Security Council to convene a meeting to discuss the damage to the pipelines that both Europe and Russia spent billions to build. The meeting has been scheduled for Friday.

The Nord Stream pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

The $7.1 (€7.4) billion Nord Stream 1 subsea pipeline, having two lines running alongside one another, has been operational since 2011, and is the largest single supply route for Russian gas to Europe. The 1,224 km-long lines run under the Baltic Sea, starting from near S.t Petersburg in Russia and Lubmin in eastern Germany, and have a combined capacity of 55 billion cubic metres (bcm).

The Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom has a majority ownership in the pipeline, and while it was running at just 20% of its capacity since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, the company, in early September fully cut gas flows from the pipeline on the pretext of maintenance. According to Bloomberg, while 40% of Europe’s pipeline gas came from Russia before the war, the number now stands at just 9%.

The construction of the $11 billion-worth Nord Stream 2, which also has two parallel lines along the first one, was completed in 2021 but needed German approval to start supply. Once thispipeline became functional, Nord Stream 1 and 2 could deliver a combined total of 110 billion cubic metres of gas a year to Europe for at least 50 years. Germany, however, suspended the approval days before Russia sent its troops to Ukraine, meaning the pipeline never began commercial operations.

While both pipelines are not currently running commercially, they had millions of cubic metres of gas stored in them.