By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com,

The mothballed Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany may return to service at some point as Europe’s industry would need some Russian gas to stay competitive, TotalEnergies’ chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

“I would not be surprised if two out of the four (came) back to stream, not four out of the four,” Patrick Pouyanne said at an industry event in Germany’s capital city, Berlin, as carried by Reuters.

“There is no way to be competitive against Russian gas with LNG coming from wherever it is,” the executive added.

Gas leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea were discovered at the end of September 2022.

Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September of 2022, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

But speculation has intensified in recent weeks that a revival of the pipelines could be a part of a deal for the end of the war in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Germany’s outgoing economy and energy minister Robert Habeck said that ideas to resurrect the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany are the “wrong direction of discussion”.

“The Ukrainians are still under the aggression of Russia. So I think talking about the potential of Nord Stream 2 or Nord Stream 1, if it's going to be repaired, is completely the wrong direction of discussion,” Habeck said.

In response to reports about a resurrection of the pipelines, Germany’s Economy Ministry early this month said that it is neither willing nor planning to discuss a restart to the pipeline.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, for his part, said, “The right place for Nord Stream 2 is at the bottom of the sea, in pieces, not on the EU’s energy market.”