World enews: West rejects Putin’s claim it sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines

Denmark and Sweden, meanwhile, said Friday the explosions that rocked the Baltic Sea ahead of the huge methane leaks “probably corresponded to an explosive load of several hundred kilos (pounds).”

The leaks occurred in international waters and “have caused plumes of gas rising to the surface,” said the letter by the two Scandinavian countries’ missions to the United Nations.

NATO warned Thursday it would retaliate for any attacks on the critical infrastructure of its 30 member countries and joined other Western officials in citing sabotage as the likely cause of damage. Denmark is a NATO member and Sweden is in the process of joining the military alliance. Both say the pipelines were deliberately attacked.

Environmental impact

The suspected sabotage this week on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have produced two methane leaks off Sweden, including a large one above North Stream 1 and a smaller one above North Stream 2, and two leaks off Denmark.

The North Stream 2 leak “has diminished, but is still ongoing,” the Swedish coast guard said. It still increased navigational warnings for ships, warning them to stay 7 nautical miles (8 miles) from the blast areas.

Nordic seismologists recorded explosions preceding the leaks. A first explosion was recorded early Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm. A second, stronger blast northeast of the island that same night was equivalent to a magnitude 2.3 earthquake.

The Integrated Carbon Observation System, a European research alliance, said Friday that “an enormous amount of methane gas has been released into the atmosphere,” adding it corresponds to the size of a whole year’s methane emissions for a city the size of Paris or a country like Denmark.

The data was gathered from ground-based observations from stations in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Experts say these methane levels aren’t dangerous to public health but are a potent source of global warming.

The letter by Denmark and Sweden also said they were also worried about the blasts’ “possible impact on the maritime life in the Baltic Sea.”

On Friday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she would travel to London to discuss the gas leaks with British Prime Minister Liz Truss. She then will travel to Brussels to raise the issue with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Council President Charles Michel.

The attacks on the pipelines has prompted energy companies and European governments to beef up energy infrastructure security.

Authorities in Norway, a major oil and gas producer, have reported at least six drone sightings near offshore installations in the North Sea, prompting the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway — the Scandinavian country’s oil safety regulator — to “urge increased vigilance by all operators and vessel owners.“ Still, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said there was no concrete threat against Norwegian oil and gas offshore installations.

Sweden has also stepped up security around its three nuclear power plants.