Pipeline blast jolts Europe's gas supply

KIEV (Reuters) - An explosion destroyed a 30-metre section of the trunk gas pipeline taking Russian gas across Ukraine to Europe on Monday, but Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said flows of gas had not been affected.

A spokesman for Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry initially said the blast had stopped the flow of gas along to Europe, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia, but another spokesman later said a by-pass pipeline had come on stream and gas flows to Europe were unaffected.

Gazprom said it was fully meeting its obligations to supply customers and its gas flows via Ukraine had not been disrupted.

Emergencies Ministry spokesman Oleksander Trigub said the blast occurred at 2:25 p.m. (12:25 p.m. British time) on the trunk pipeline to Europe, near the village of Luka.

The pipeline takes gas from Urengoi in Russia via Pomary to Uzhgorod on the border with Slovakia.

The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined.

"There was a powerful explosion that destroyed 30 metres of the pipeline. The line is closed down for now. A fire broke out, but it is no longer burning. There are no casualties and no threat to local residents," Trigub said by telephone.

"The line is not operating. You can imagine what 30 metres of destroyed pipeline means. I cannot say how long it will take to restore the flow of gas."