Gas supplies via Nord Stream have fallen to zero cubic meters per hour on Wednesday, as the operation of the pipeline has been suspended for three days due to scheduled maintenance work at the Portovaya compressor station, according to data from gas transportation system operators.

Russian gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline will cease from August 31 to September 2 for "maintenance", Russian energy giant Gazprom said Friday, raising the prospect of energy shortages in Europe.

"It is necessary to carry out maintenance every 1,000 hours" of operation, Gazprom said in a statement, adding, "On August 31, 2022, the only Trent 60 gas compression unit will be stopped for three days for maintenance" involving technicians from Germany's Siemens.

Last month July, Russian gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline fell to 20% of their capacity and reached 1.3 million cubic meters per hour, which according to the operator Nord Stream AG, was due to the withdrawal of another Siemens turbine.

At the end of this period, deliveries will be restored to a flow of 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, Gazprom mentioned.

Data showed that October futures for gas (TTF index) reached a high of $2,883.1 (+5%) as of 06:21 GMT, up from the previous settlement of $2,743.5. 

Gas futures prices in Europe earlier this month surpassed $3,500 per thousand cubic meters for the first time since March and futures (TTF hub) grew by 6.6% to $3,507.7 per thousand cubic meters. The settlement of the day before $3,290.2 became a record for the whole period of operation of gas hubs in Europe, since 1996.

In March, European gas futures reached an all-time high of over $3,600 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to the London-based ICE exchange.

Just two weeks ago, 40.9 million cubic meters of gas has been supplied by Russia's energy mogul Gazprom to the Sudzha entry point in Russia on Sunday for further transit to Europe, as verified by Ukraine, according to its spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov.