An explosion has killed three people and several damaged a gas pipeline in central Russia on December 20.
The blast has also limited the amount of Russian gas that is reaching the rest of Europe, Euractiv reported.
The flow of gas through a section of the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline that takes gas from Russia’s Arctic to Europe via Ukraine had been halted in the afternoon following the incidnet.
Oleg Nikolayev, governor of the Republic of Chuvashia, told state TV that three people, who were carrying out servicing work were killed in the accident.
He said it was unclear when gas supplies via the pipeline could resume normally.
It is believed that the explosion had ripped through the pipeline during planned maintenance work near the village of Kalinino, about 150 km (90 miles) west of the Volga city of Kazan. It said the resulting gas flare had been extinguished.
The pipeline, built in the 1980s, enters Ukraine via the Sudzha metering point, currently the main route for Russian gas to reach Europe.
Europe’s gas prices have risen dramatically after Russia cut exports through its main gas pipeline route into Germany, leaving only pipelines via Ukraine to ship Russian gas to European consumers.
Gazprom has said that it expected to pump 43 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine through Sudzha, a volume in line with recent days.
Russian gas pipeline explosion kills three workers
