Russia has cut a major gas pipeline to Europe indefinitely and is openly calling for sanctions to be lifted.
Gazprom complains about “oil leakage”, explaining the shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline as a technical problem. The Kremlin, on the other hand, speaks openly – “pumping problems arose because of sanctions.” European officials and politicians understand that the Kremlin is using far-fetched technical excuses to deprive the EU of gas for the heating season and force it to soften its position on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
gas blockage
The EU no longer believes in the reliability of supplies from Russia and is preparing for a gas blockade. Europe is not quick to abandon Russian gas, but has prepared a long-term plan, but for now it will save money: dim the lights, screw the batteries and, as a last resort, turn off the industrial consumers so that the population does not freeze.
And on Friday, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the EU is thinking about creating a cartel of 27 union countries with a population of 450 million people, which could set a ceiling of price for gas purchases in Russia. , following the example of the price ceiling conceived by the G7 for Russian oil.
What the numbers say
Before the war, Russian imports covered about 40% of gas consumption in Europe. Today this share has dropped to 25%, as current deliveries do not exceed a third of the average volumes over the past five years.
Three years ago, Gazprom daily supplied Europe with up to 500 million cubic meters of gas per day. By May of this year, the deliveries were divided by 250 million, and in the summer they were divided by 115 million in August. Moreover, when Nord Stream was shut down for maintenance, exports to Europe fell to a historic low: only about 80 million cubic meters per day.
At the same time, EU countries managed to replenish reserves in underground gas storage facilities up to 80% ahead of schedule, and now they are a quarter higher than the numbers last year.
Bloomberg has seen a document prepared for a closed-door meeting of Russian officials on August 30, predicting that a total shutdown of gas supplies to Europe, Russia’s main export market, could be costly. of up to 400 billion rubles ($6.6 billion) a year in the form. of lost tax revenue. It is not possible to fully compensate for the loss of sales of new export markets even in the medium term.
As a result, production would have to be cut, jeopardizing the Kremlin’s goal of expanding domestic gas supplies, the report said. The lack of technology needed for liquefied natural gas plants is “critical” and could hamper efforts to build new ones.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.