Satellite Image Reveals Huge Russian Gas Dump

The Finns on the border saw something was wrong: a big fire inside Russia.

Satellite images revealed the mystery.

Russia’s Gazprom burns SEK 100 million a day of liquefied natural gas, while EU energy prices soar, the BBC reports.

Satellite images show infrared radiation from gas burning at Russia’s Bortovaya plant, located next to the Baltic Sea, a mile from the Finnish border.

Since June, the Russian oil company has been on fire Gazprom The plant produces 4.3 billion liters of liquefied natural gas each day, causing emissions equivalent to 9,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day. The British BBC reveals.

According to Michael Berger, the German ambassador to Britain, this giant gas flare is because EU countries are trying to reduce their dependence on Russian energy:

“The Russians have nowhere else to sell their natural gas, so they have to burn it,” he told the BBC.

Expert: Never seen anything like it

An expert on satellite data told the BBC he had never seen images showing so much liquefied natural gas burning. Even from Finland, giant flames are visible, which Ari Line, among others, was able to document in July with his camera 38 kilometers from the Russian Portovaya.

The liquefied natural gas facility is located near the start of the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline Russia and sends its contents to Germany. Since mid-July, deliveries through the pipeline have been interrupted due to technical problems, according to the Russians.

Germany doesn’t believe that explanation, but says the goal is to raise energy prices in the EU.

“No clear signal”

– There is no clearer signal than this. Russia may cut energy prices tomorrow This is natural gas that would otherwise have been exported via Nord Stream 1, Sindre Knutsson at the analysis firm Rystad Energy tells the BBC.

According to the World Bank, Russia is the largest natural gas burner in the world.

“Energy companies are often reluctant to shut down plants because they fear it will be difficult to restart them, which could be the cause of these fires,” Capterio CEO Mark Davies told the BBC.