Natural gas flow from Russia to Latvia restored

A week after being stopped by Russian exporter Gazprom, Russian natural gas shipments to Latvia restarted on August 5, according to data from transmission system operator Conexus Baltic Grid (CBG).

On July 30, Gazprom announced that it has ceased supplying gas to Latvia after charging the Baltic nation with breaking the terms of the delivery.

The cause of the restart of exports to Latvia was not immediately apparent. A request for comment from Reuters went unanswered by Gazprom. According to CBG, the daily supply of Russian gas into Latvia on Monday was 43,393-megawatt hours (MWh).

Latvijas Gaze, a Latvian energy business, announced on July 29 that it was purchasing gas from Russia and making payments in euros rather than the roubles necessary for transactions with Gazprom. In response, the Russian company declared that trading would cease.

The Latvian government and Latvijas Gaze were unavailable for comment.