Why is Russia wasting a million dollars worth of gas every day?

Why is Russia wasting a million dollars worth of gas every day?

At a time when energy prices around the world, including in Europe, are skyrocketing, an analysis received by The Time News Today shows that Russia is wasting huge amounts of natural gas by burning it.

Analysts believe that the LNG gas plant in the Russian city of Portovia, near the Finnish border, is burning US$10 million worth of gas on a daily basis, which was supposed to be exported to Germany.

According to an analysis conducted by Rustad Energy, the amount of gas burned on a daily basis is about four and a half million cubic meters.

Michael Berger, Germany's ambassador to Britain, told the The Time News Today that "Russia is burning this gas because they can't sell it anywhere else."

Scientists fear that burning this gas is adding large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which could speed up the melting of Arctic ice.

It was first noticed by citizens living near the border of Russia and Finland, who saw a huge flame rising in the sky.

It should be noted that there is a compressor plant near Portovia, from where the Nord Stream One pipeline begins, which used to deliver Russian gas to Germany by sea.

However, since July, the supply through this pipeline has been disrupted and the reason for this was attributed by Russia to technical problems. Germany says that it is actually a political trick.

In June, researchers noted an increase in emissions from the plant, which is produced by burning natural gas.

Gas is usually flared for technical or safety reasons, but experts have been surprised by the amount of gas being flared at this Russian plant.

Dr. Jessica McCarty is a satellite data expert at Miami University in Ohio, USA. "I have never seen an LNG plant burning like this," she says.

"At the beginning of June we saw a sudden spike in temperature that has not subsided and is unusually high," she says.

Michael Berger, Germany's ambassador to Britain, says that "European efforts to end dependence on Russian gas have had a profound effect on the Russian economy."

"They don't have anywhere else to sell the gas, so they have to burn it," he says.

Mark Davis is the CEO of Capterio Company. "Gas does not burn like this by accident, but it is done as part of a well-thought-out plan," he says.

Gas plant operators usually don't shut down a plant for fear that restarting it would be technically difficult or expensive, and that's probably the case here.

Others believe that there may be technical problems with the gas supplied through Nord Stream Pipeline One.

They say that the Russian company Gazprom may have tried to make LNG from this gas at a new plant, after which the easiest way was to burn the gas.

This may be due to European restrictions.

Esa Vikalainen is an energy professor at the University of Finland. "Maybe some valves have broken that are needed to produce oil and gas and are not getting them because of the European ban," she says.

Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy company, did not respond to questions from the The Time News Today, but scientists fear the economic and environmental damage from burning gas at the plant is increasing on a daily basis.