Turkmenistan has suspended gas supplies to Russia after a pipeline explosion caused by an accident, a source in Kazakhstan's energy sector said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Turkmenistan is the biggest gas producer in Central Asia and Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) buys up to 50 billion cubic metres of its gas a year to meet its export obligations and demand at home.
"Supplies have been suspended," the source told Reuters. "Repair work is under way."
A Gazprom spokeswoman said she was not aware of the blast.
Turkmen gas goes through a pipeline via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, both of which also supply smaller amounts, before reaching Russia.
Gazprom normally cannot meet both its export obligations and demand at home without the Turkmen gas but at the moment it will probably be able to cope without it for some time because of a slump in demand in Russia and Europe.