Balticconnector Gas Pipeline Leak Update

The subsea gas pipeline and a telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea have been damaged deliberately, the Finnish Government said on Tuesday. While it is too early to draw conclusions, the Estonian Defense Minister said the leak was caused by heavy force,

• The Balticconnector gas pipeline was shut early on Sunday on concerns that gas was leaking from a hole in the 77km pipeline. Finnish operator Gasgrid said it could take months or more to repair.
• "It can clearly be seen that these damages are caused by quite heavy force," Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said, cited by Reuters.
• "So what it is exactly, we have to specify yet, but at the moment it rather seems that it had been mechanical impact or mechanical destruction”, he added.
• The damage to the gas pipeline was believed to have taken place in Finnish waters, while the telecoms cable breach was in Estonian waters, Finnish authorities said.
• NATO’s Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday: “If it is proven to be an attack on NATO critical infrastructure (...) it will be met by a united and determined response from NATO.”
• As a result the leak, Norwegian police have tightened security at onshore oil and gas installations, newspaper BA reported on Wednesday.
• “We have increased our focus on preventive patrols at oil and gas installations in our area,” operations chief Helge Blindheim at Norway’s West police district said.
• Both Gasgrid and Elering said consumers in their respective countries continued to receive gas from other sources, which would also be able to cover demand over the winter.