U.S. brings Europe to a gas dead end
The United States promised to flood Europe with its LNG, and instead, American tankers go to Asia for the “Asian Prize”
A group of MEPs sent a letter to the European Commission with a call to investigate the actions of Gazprom, which allegedly led to a sharp increase in gas prices in Europe. The initiative was taken by a group of 40 parliamentarians from Poland and the Baltic republics, who addressed the European Commission with an official request to conduct an antitrust investigation against Gazprom.
Meanwhile, this appeal was not born among the politicians of “young Europe”. The initiative is Atlanticist. The Atlantic Council, which is unwelcome in Russia, writes:
“Amid growing concerns about Russian gas supplies to Europe, US Senators Toomey and Ted Cruz have threatened indefinitely withholding the approval of five Treasury chiefs unless the Biden administration blacklists the firm leading the implementation of the Russian pipeline project Nord Stream-2”.
The Russian-German gas pipeline is hindering the American congressmen, what can you do. And the gas price in the Old World has already exceeded $950 per thousand cubic meters, breaking previous records. Experts predict that the price could exceed $1,000. According to Konstantin Simonov, Director of the National Energy Security Fund, gas in European territory is becoming more expensive mainly due to weather reasons, reduced LNG supplies and a lack of gas in storage facilities ahead of the heating season. “Speculative” factors also contribute to the acceleration of prices.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller recalled that the EU countries took a record amount of gas (66 billion cubic meters) last winter due to the cold winter and spring, and the period of pumping into storage this year began three weeks later than usual. The strong lag in gas injection into UGS facilities in Europe and the growing demand for gas have led to the fact that prices for natural gas in Europe have broken records and may exceed their values in the near future.
“At the same time, even with price records in Europe, LNG supplies go to the more premium Asian market, which remains more attractive,” said Gazprom CEO Miller.
There are other reasons as well. The dangers arising in connection with the forcing of the notorious “energy transition”, emphasizes the Bloomberg agency:
“The chaotic transition to renewable sources to save the planet from global warming has turned into an energy crisis for Europe. The unstable operation of wind farms has forced countries to purchase fossil fuels at record high prices so as not to be left without electricity. Gentle winds have forced Europeans to jeopardize climate targets and increase their dependence on atmospheric coal and gas”.
And the Financial Times writes about the same:
“Britain and some countries of continental Europe are increasingly using wind energy to generate electricity, but in recent weeks the weather has been such that the contribution of wind energy to the total generation piggy bank has significantly decreased. In these conditions, you have to use mainly gas, and this increases the demand for it”.
Ukrainian energy expert Dmitry Marunich sees several reasons for the sharp rise in gas prices, and they also have nothing to do with Gazprom. First: the specifics of the new gas market in the EU, where the price is formed by exchange mechanisms. Second: This season, we actively took gas from storage facilities.
Less pumped into storage facilities. Plus, gas was actively used for the needs of industry and energy. Plus, other suppliers of non-pipeline gas were unable to fill the deficit, says Marunich and adds:
“Gazprom is fully fulfilling its contractual obligations. You will not find a single message in the European media, not a single lawsuit, and they would inevitably have happened if Gazprom had not complied with something. Everything is clearly spelled out in the contracts”.
And if you look for a political reason for the rise in gas prices, you need to look towards the United States. They promised to “flood” Europe with supplies of their LNG, and instead, tankers with liquefied gas from America are sent to Asia.
Today, Russian LNG is the second largest sold in Europe, second only to Qatari. And the lion’s share of the market still belongs to Gazprom’s pipeline gas. At the same time, notes the German Handelsblatt, Russian LNG is cheaper than American LNG, moreover, more than half of all gas is supplied to Europe via pipes. Gazprom need not worry about its share of the European market.
The demarche of the Polish and Baltic deputies of the European Parliament is an attempt to get rid of a sore head on a healthy one.
“These clever guys, even in the last European Commission, invented market pricing for gas, and this is the result,” V. Putin commented on the dizzying rise in prices for natural gas in Europe in September.
Vladimir Malyshev, Federal Grid Company