The biggest known release of methane from the earth has not only had environmentalists talking, but also political and legal experts.
An estimated 40,000 metric tonnes of the greenhouse gas leaked out over the ocean between Russia and Europe as a result of an incident on 26 September.
The gas escaped from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines which run from Russia to Germany.
The Swedish Coast Guard provided aerial photographs showing one of the gas leaks from the underwater pipeline. Source: Getty / Alamy
Russia has accused the United States and the United Kingdom of playing a role in the damage but some commentators say it may have been a case of self-sabotage.
What makes up the Nord Stream?
Nord Stream is a network of gas pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
It's operated by an international consortium in Switzerland, Nord Stream AG, but its biggest shareholder is Russian state-owned company Gazprom.
Deakin University law lecturer Claudio Bozzi said Nord Stream 1 delivered gas to Germany that accounts for about 40 per cent of Europe’s total energy requirements.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project under construction in 2020. Source: AFP / ODD ANDERSEN
However, before this second pipeline could begin delivering gas to Europe, the arrangement was halted.
Why is there controversy about Nord Stream?
Russia is the world's largest gas exporter.
In response to Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February, Germany blocked Nord Stream 2's certification and the United State-imposed sanctions on Nord Stream AG.
Since then, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned gas supplies via Nord Stream could be reduced but has denied Western accusations it is using its energy supplies as a tool of coercion.
What happened with Nord Stream?
Mr Putin initially said the US and its allies blew up Nord Stream.
"The sanctions were not enough for the Anglo-Saxons: they moved onto sabotage," he said in late September.
The White House dismissed the accusation and US President Joe Biden described the damage to Nord Stream as “a deliberate act of sabotage.”
Russia's defence ministry later said British navy personnel blew up the gas pipelines.
"The British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year, blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines," the ministry said on Saturday.
Germany refused to certify Nord Stream 2 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Credit: Pierre Crom/Getty Images
"To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale," the UK defence ministry said.
Dr Bozzi said structural failure was the least likely reason for the incident, due to the nature of the damage.
Was Nord Stream sabotaged?
Dr Bozzi has dismissed the idea that the UK or US may have been responsible for the explosions.
“I don’t think there’s any credence that can be given to it or any weight that can be given to it,” he said.
Dr Bozzi said any suggestion that the US was responsible for the damage would be based on the idea the country wanted to “discredit the Russians,” and Britain being responsible made even less sense.
“I don't know that anyone detected the presence of the British ships in the Baltic at the time, so apart from their lack of reliance [on Russian gas], it still doesn't make sense for anybody to sabotage major infrastructure because it's so interconnected, it will always backfire,” he said.
Dr Bozzi said Russia had attempted to get “on the front foot” ahead of any official reports being completed.
Or was Nord Stream the victim of self-sabotage?
Dr Bozzi said there was a high likelihood Russia carried out the explosions that caused the damage to Nord Stream itself.
He said the motivation for the incident could have been to provide a reason to escalate actions in regard to the existing tensions.
“Politically, the motivation would have been that someone on either side would use to discredit the other side or use it as a provocation for escalating the conflict,” Dr Bozzi said.
While such actions could be seen as detrimental to Russia, as the infrastructure was designed to export the country’s gas to its markets, he pointed out that Nord Stream 2 had not been operational and was only filled to ensure the pipe’s structural integrity.
“They weren't getting anything out, it was it was a completely dead infrastructure,” Dr Bozzi said.
“[Russia has] made a lot of claims that seem to have been used to justify certain actions or escalations.
"They have played this game of distraction and accusation quite a lot… and many times it's meant to send a signal of some kind.”
Russia's stranglehold over Europe
Dr Bozzi said it was often said “one of the reasons Putin thought that he could march into Ukraine was because the Europeans would not risk losing their main supplier of energy.”
He said the European Union was too reliant on gas and from a single supply and was feeling the effects of that.
“Europe just played the wrong game when it came to energy,” Dr Bozzi said.
“The real problem for Europe has been a diversification of supply and a diversification of sources and over-reliance on Russian gas.”
Different countries in Europe relied on gas from Russia to different extents, one of those most reliant was Germany, the country where the pipeline delivers gas into Europe.
Energy prices are rising across Europe. People protest in August outside the headquarters of the UK's energy regulator in London. Credit: Rob Pinney/Getty Images
While there is a move towards renewables, Dr Bozzi said green energy would have to be taken up at a greater rate to deal with Europe’s energy issues.
Energy prices have risen dramatically across the globe in the past year and supply and security have been factors that played into this.
- With AAP and Reuters.
