Russia's state-run energy giant, Gazprom, said on Friday that it would shut down the Nord Stream 1 line for three days in August.

The company said it would resume as usual if no problems are found.

Natural gas prices in Europe are near a record high. The benchmark price in Europe was up 2% on Friday. The last five days have seen a price increase.

During last month's maintenance, the line closed down for 10 days. There were technical problems that led to the reduction of gas flows to 20% of capacity. European officials accuse Moscow of weaponizing energy in order to retaliate for sanctions.

Europe has been forced to look for alternative energy resources due to supply disruptions and cuts. When heating demand increases, they need to have enough gas in storage tanks.

Global energy markets have been thrown into turmoil by Russia's cuts to European gas deliveries. Europe's top gas supplier is the US. Asia has stepped up gas purchases as it looks for alternatives to Europe.

Europe is increasing its imports of diesel from all over the world as an energy crisis grips the region, forcing industries to burn oil instead of natural gas.