Moscow. Russia has taken a tough decision in the midst of a 6-month long war with Ukraine (Russia-Ukraine War). Russia has stopped supplying gas to European countries (Russia has stopped gas supplies). After this, the fear of dozens of countries in Europe falling into serious energy crisis has increased. European gas operator network ENTSOG said on Wednesday, ‘Gas delivery to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline has been suspended.’ Earlier, Russian energy company Gazprom had said, “Deliveries will be closed for three days for maintenance work.” This will increase the tension in the electricity market.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom said, “Nord Stream 1 will remain outage for maintenance,” Reuters and BBC reported. This means that between 2 am today and 2 pm on Friday, there will be no gas flow in many European countries including Germany. Data from the Nord Stream 1 operator’s website showed zero gas flow between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. There is no gas supply from the pipeline for the last several hours. Russia currently supplies only 20 per cent of its gas to Europe through this pipeline. Russia blamed faulty equipment.
Can Russia live without natural gas in Europe?
European governments fear that Russia may extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of using the energy supply as a weapon of war. However, Moscow refused to do so.
Which European countries take gas from Russia?
Russia is the largest supplier of gas to Germany. It is followed by Italy, Belarus, Turkey, Netherlands, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland and Poland. The gas supply has completely stopped. Flows have been reduced through other pipelines in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Russia also supplies gas from Asia to China and Japan. If the supply of gas from Russia to Europe is cut off, Italy and Germany will be most affected, as these two countries are the biggest importers of gas.
The UK imports only 5% of its gas needs from Russia and the US does not import gas from Russia at all. Poland’s gas reserves are 76% full, but Bulgaria has only 17% gas left. Simone Taglipietra says it’s not a matter of days. The problem will happen next winter, so the reserve needs to be replenished.
In Paris, the energy minister said in a separate dispute over the payment that Gazprom was using just an excuse to cut off natural gas supplies to its French contractor. At the same time, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “It is a guarantee that nothing will interfere with the supply except technical problems caused by sanctions.”
Europe at risk of recession if gas and oil supplies are cut
Without Russian natural gas, the economy of Europe would be greatly affected. Its effect will depend on which countries use it and how much. Meanwhile, many countries are also looking at the option of Russia. The US is set to supply an additional 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe by the end of this year. Despite this, an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas supply will be needed every year by 2030. Europe can also increase the use of other sources of energy, but doing so will take time and is not that easy.
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tags: europe, gas field, russia ukraine war, Vladimir Putin
First Published: 31 August 2022, 15:48 IST
