The news that Gazprom sent west on Friday evening could hardly have been worded more awkwardly. During maintenance work at a compressor station near the Baltic Sea coast in Russia, a "leak of engine oil" had been discovered, the company announced. As a result, the turbine facility, which is used to send natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, could no longer be safely operated. As such, Gazprom said, deliveries through the pipeline would be completely suspended.