Xinhua News Agency Beijing, October 2 The operator of the " Beixi-2" pipeline that transports natural gas to Europe said on the 1st that the pipeline has stopped leaking. Ulrich Lishek, spokesperson for the operator of the "Northern Stream-2" project, told AFP reporter: "The water pressure has more or less sealed the pipeline, so the natural gas in the pipeline cannot be discharged. We infer that there is still (residual) natural gas in the pipeline."
Lishek did not specify the amount of residual natural gas in the pipeline.
Denmark Energy Agency said on social media on the 1st that the "North Stream-2" operator informed the Energy Agency that the pressure in the pipeline has stabilized, "indicating that the natural gas in the pipeline has stopped leaking."
Danish predicts that the leakage may continue until the 2nd of this month until the natural gas in the pipeline is exhausted. According to the most serious estimates, the leakage of natural gas may be as much as 778 million cubic meters.
This aerial photo released by the Swedish Coast Guard on September 28 shows that a large amount of gas is still leaking from the natural gas pipeline of " Nord Stream-1". Xinhua News Agency (Photo provided by the Swedish Coast Guard)
According to AFP, there is currently no exact information on the leakage status of the "North Stream-1" pipeline, and the leakage volume of this pipeline far exceeds that of the "North Stream-2". However, data show that air leakage in the "Beixi-1" pipeline began to decrease on September 30.
Since the two "Northern Stream" pipelines leaked on September 26, two leak points were found each, located in the waters near Sweden and Denmark. Several seismologists in Denmark and Sweden believe that an "underwater explosion" occurred near the leak point. Many European countries suspect that the leakage was caused by "deliberate destruction".
This is the "North Stream-1" natural gas pipeline related facility photographed in Lubmin, Germany on September 14. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
"North Stream-1" pipeline was completed in 2011. It starts from Vyborg, Russia in the east and leads to Germany via the Baltic Sea seabed. The "Beixi-2" pipeline was completed last year and is basically parallel to the main pipeline of "Beixi-1" and has not yet been put into use, but some natural gas is sealed in the pipeline. (Lin Shuting)