Flow of Russian gas through Ukraine soars despite the invasion

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A second pipeline, Nord Stream 2, which follows the same route, was halted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the first volley of sanctions against Russia.

The project is led by Gazprom but backed by a consortium that includes British oil giant Shell, French energy giant Engie, German utility providers Uniper and Wintershall, and Austria’s OMV.

It comes amid growing pressure on BP to abandon its 20pc stake in state-owned Russian oil and gas company Rosneft. Rosneft is run by Igor Sechin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin who has been described as the Russian president’s “Darth Vader”.

BP’s chief executive, Bernard Looney, sits on the company’s board, alongside Mr Sechin.

The International Energy Agency has previously accused Russia of a deliberately exacerbating Europe’s energy crisis by withholding gas exports.

Fatih Birol, the organisation’s executive director, said last month that the tightening of flows coincided “with heightened geopolitical tensions over Ukraine”.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, also accused Gazprom of “systematically holding back gas deliveries” to Europe and emptying its reserves on the Continent on Thursday.

“We will have to buy more gas, but also coal from other countries,” he told the ZDF broadcaster, adding that Germany, which gets half its gas from Russia, was too dependent on Russian oil and gas.

Gazprom has said that gas flows through Ukraine are running normally.

Despite unveiling a list of punishing financial sanctions, US President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is reluctant to disrupt energy due to Russia’s “systemic importance in the global economy”.

Daleep Singh, the President’s deputy national security adviser, told reporters: “We’re not going to do anything which causes an unintended disruption to the flow of energy as a global economic recovery is still underway.”

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