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Russian Gas Flows East via Yamal-Europe Pipeline for Fifth Day

A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
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Russian Gas Flows East via Yamal-Europe Pipeline for Fifth Day

A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
A worker checks pipes at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of Minsk December 29, 2006.REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

The Yamal-Europe pipeline that usually sends Russian gas to Western Europe was operating in a reverse mode for a fifth day on Saturday, shipping fuel from Germany to Poland, data from German network operator Gascade showed.

Russian gas exporter Gazprom did not book gas transit capacity for exports via the Yamal-Europe pipeline for Sunday as well, auction results showed.

European gas prices climbed to a record high this week after Yamal switched direction but eased on Friday.

Russia said the flow reversal was not a political move, though it coincides with rising tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the reversal was because of a lack of requests from buyers, Reuters reported.

Putin also said on Friday that Russia was "sidelined" by Poland in managing the pipeline and Europe had only itself to blame for soaring gas prices.

Flows at the Mallnow metering point on the German-Polish border were going east into Poland at an hourly volume of more than 1.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh/h) on Saturday and were expected to stay at these levels during the day, the data shows.

Putin has also said that Germany was reselling Russian gas to Poland and Ukraine rather than relieving an overheated market.

Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov told the NTV channel that the company was ready to supply additional gas within its long-term contracts, which would be cheaper than short-term deals concluded on European spot market.

Reverse flows from Germany to Poland - and probably to Ukraine as well - stand at between 3 million cubic metres (mcm) and 5 mcm per day, he said, reiterating that accusations that Gazprom was undersupplying gas are "groundless".

Kupriyanov added that the gas is being taken off underground storage facilities that are already depleted.

Data from Slovak pipeline operator Eustream showed capacity nominations for Saturday's Russian gas flows from Ukraine to Slovakia via the Velke Kapusany border point were at 747,031 megawatt hours (MWh), slightly up from Friday's 739,843 MWh but below levels in recent weeks.

That drop was being balanced by higher nominations for flows from the Czech Republic to Slovakia, meaning that nominations for flows from Slovakia to Austrian hub Baumgarten were roughly stable compared with levels in recent days and weeks.

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Venezuela Opposition Candidate Gonzalez Leaves for Spain as Diplomatic Tensions Rise

28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
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Venezuela Opposition Candidate Gonzalez Leaves for Spain as Diplomatic Tensions Rise

28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)

Venezuela's former presidential opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has left for Spain in the wake of the South American country's contested election, Venezuelan and Spanish officials said on Saturday night after a day of rising diplomatic tensions.

Gonzalez, 75, who ran against President Nicolas Maduro in July, left after "voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas several days ago," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted on Instagram.

"Edmundo Gonzalez has taken off from Caracas heading to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane," Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares posted on X, saying Madrid was responding to a request from Gonzalez.

Gonzalez's exit from Venezuela is the latest political development since the country's election on July 28. Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government's handling of the vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro.

Venezuela's opposition say the election resulted in a resounding victory for Gonzalez, and published vote tallies online that they say show he won.

This week prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez in connection to the online publication of the tallies, accusing him of usurping functions, falsifying public documents and conspiracy, among other charges.

Earlier on Saturday, Venezuela's government revoked Brazil's authorization to represent Argentine interests in the country, including administering the embassy where six opposition figures are sheltering.

Venezuela broke relations with Argentina after the presidential election. Brazil, like Colombia and Mexico, has asked the Venezuelan government to publish the full results of the vote.

The government has not done so and the country's electoral authority said Maduro won re-election for a third term.

In a statement, Venezuela said the decision, effective immediately, was due to proof that the embassy was being used to plan assassination attempts against Maduro and Rodriguez.

Brazil said it had received the communication that its authorization had been revoked "with surprise." Argentina said it rejected the "unilateral" decision. Both countries urged Maduro to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

"Any attempt to invade or kidnap asylum seekers who remain in our official residence will be harshly condemned by the international community," Argentina said in a statement. "Actions like these reinforce the conviction that in Maduro's Venezuela, fundamental human rights are not respected."

A Brazilian diplomatic source said on Saturday afternoon that Venezuela had assured Brazil it would not invade the embassy.

In its statement, Brazil insisted it would remain in custody and defense of Argentine interests until Argentina indicated another state acceptable to Venezuela to do so.

"The Brazilian government highlights in this context, under the terms of the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission," it said, adding that it housed six Venezuelan asylum seekers, assets and archives.

The escalation in the spat between the South American countries was first reported by Reuters.

In March, six people sought asylum in the Argentine embassy in Caracas after a prosecutor ordered their arrest on charges including conspiracy. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has denied the allegations against her collaborators.

On Friday night, some opposition members in the Argentine residence reported on their X accounts that the building was under surveillance and had no electricity. They posted videos showing men dressed in black and patrols from the government intelligence agency, SEBIN.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro and other senior government officials for events that occurred after the elections.