Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany, had been shut down for repairs, but many in Berlin and Brussels feared it would not come back online after the outage. However, Nord Stream AG, the operator, said gas was flowing again. “We are in the process of resuming natural gas transmission, although it may take a few hours to reach the proposed volumes,” it said on Thursday. Uncertainty over gas supplies through NS1 had come to symbolize the breakdown in relations between Russia and the West following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia cut the flow of natural gas through the pipeline in the four weeks ahead of scheduled maintenance, and Germany accused it of “rigging” its energy exports to Europe in an attempt to panic markets and drive up prices. Although governments in Europe will be relieved to see gas flow resume, early indications are that Nord Stream 1 is still not operating at full capacity. Klaus Müller, the head of Germany’s federal energy regulator, said he expected volumes to drop by 60% — just as they were before the maintenance period. “Political uncertainty and the 60 percent reduction since mid-June remains, unfortunately,” he tweeted. James Waddell, an analyst at Energy Aspects, said that with the resumption of some flows Russian President Vladimir Putin would retain a degree of influence in European capitals this winter and ahead of any possible settlement of the Ukraine conflict. “While increased flows from Russia after maintenance will initially be welcome in Europe, it also has the effect of undermining EU solidarity,” Waddell said. “Russia’s main objective is clearly to impede Europe’s ability to conveniently fill gas storage ahead of winter. By restoring partial flows they maintain some political leverage in European capitals while maximizing revenue that helps fund the war in Ukraine.” Data on the Nord Stream 1 website showed that 21 million kilowatt hours of natural gas leaked through the pipeline between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and 29 million kWh between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. of Thursday. Benchmark European natural gas futures fell nearly 8% early Thursday, with prices at the Dutch TTF hub down 7.75% to 149 euros per megawatt hour. European natural gas prices have risen over the past year, reaching a record high shortly after Russia’s attack on Ukraine on February 24. Although prices have eased this spring, they are still nine times higher than the five-year average and nearly double the level they were when Russia began curbing flows on NS1 in June. Germany is worried it will be forced to introduce strict gas rationing for industrial customers if it fails to secure supplies ahead of the winter heating season. The European Commission on Wednesday asked member states to find ways to reduce demand by 15% between August and March, warning that reductions could become mandatory with the possibility of further cuts in Russian supply. Economists had warned that if Russia shut off the gas tap, Europe’s largest economy would sink into recession, although near-record prices remain a major threat with inflation at its highest level in decades. Thomas Rogers, gas market analyst at ICIS, said the market was broadly expecting flows through NS1 to resume to pre-maintenance levels, but some traders were hedging for the worst-case scenario of no gas. “It’s good news for the market to have that extra gas in terms of being able to fill up storage before winter,” he added. “It means you don’t have to destroy more industrial demand with high prices.” Austria’s state-backed energy group OMV said Gazprom confirmed that about half of its natural gas order would be fulfilled on Thursday, in line with the volume it was receiving before maintenance on the line began.

Russia had cited technical reasons for its decision to cut the flow of natural gas through NS1 by 60 percent from mid-June, a move that prompted Germany to activate the second stage of its gas emergency plan and make a big step closer to limiting gas. Russia blamed the drop in supply on delays in returning a Siemens Energy turbine used to pump natural gas through the pipeline. The turbine had undergone routine maintenance in Canada, but Ottawa refused to send it back to Russia, citing the sanctions regime against Moscow. However, Germany said Russia was only using the turbine issue as a pretext to reduce supplies. Canada eventually exempted the turbine from its sanctions and allowed it to be sent to Germany. Traders are turning their attention to a warning by Putin on Wednesday that another turbine was due for maintenance on July 26, which could reduce flows through NS1 to 30 million cubic meters a day.