Natural Gas Prices Soar in Europe
Please consider Natural-Gas Prices Soar in Europe After Russia Sanctions Energy Companies.
Natural-gas prices in Europe shot higher Thursday, a day after Russia unveiled a set of sanctions on energy companies operating on the Continent that could further threaten supply.
One target of the Russian sanctions was Gazprom Germania GmbH, a major Gazprom unit that the German government took control of last month.
Dutch gas futures, the benchmark in northwestern Europe, jumped 18% Thursday, while gas prices in the U.K. gained 34% and German power prices leapt 15%. Though gas prices are below their March highs, they remain more than four times as high as a year ago, adding to inflationary pressures that are pushing central banks to tighten monetary policy.
Late Wednesday, Moscow unveiled sanctions on 31 energy companies, including Gazprom Germania and EuRoPol GAZ, owner of the Polish stretch of the Yamal-Europe pipeline that carries Russian gas to Germany. Other targets included Astora GmbH, a gas-storage operator, and Wingas GmbH, a trading company. Both are subsidiaries of Gazprom Germania. Tom Marzec-Manser, a gas analyst at ICIS, said the sanctions on Germania and its subsidiaries appeared largely to be symbolic, having little practical effect on gas supplies. He said, however, that sanctions on EuRoPol could stop Berlin from importing Russian gas via the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Good Morning From Germany
Germany Puts On Brave Front
Bloomberg reports European Gas Surges as Germany Clashes With Russia Over Supply
The benchmark contract surged 14% as flows from Russia via Ukraine fell further Thursday following interruptions at a cross-border entry point as a result of the war. It adds to the market’s concerns, as Moscow retaliates to Europe’s penalties with a slew of its own curbs targeting some gas companies in the region.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck downplayed the immediate impact of Moscow’s move, saying the cuts amount to just 3% of the country’s imports. The nation was getting shipments from alternate sources and can cope with the disruption, he said. Utility RWE AG said Russia’s new sanctions are “not material.”
Not Material?
Curiously, I discussed this exact setup on May 10, just two days before Russia’s sanctions.
Please consider How Might a Cornered Putin Respond?
Q: Why is it the US is far more interested in sending weapons and sanctioning Russia than the EU?
A: It’s the gas stupid.
How long before Russia has had enough of this game?
Surely Russia can see the EU doing everything it can to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
What if Putin Cuts the Gas?
Is this a very material threat or not? Has anyone thought anything through?
This post originated at MishTalk.Com.
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Mish
Keep in mind that these are the *same* insane Dumbocrats who went apoplectic in 2016 that Trump would destroy the world by casually pressing the red button.
For this reason alone, the DONORcrat Party deserves to be out of power for at least the rest of this decade.
On odd-numbered days, declare that Russia is going to conquer country after country after country.
On even-numbered days, declare that Ukraine is kicking Russia’s butt and is going to drive Russian forces back.
In theory, the best time to buy fuel oil is the low season (spring, summer) because the demand and consumption of fuel oil are the lowest. This principle of falling demand logically lowers the price of fuel oil.
Why ?
So, should we wait until fall or order earlier?
Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, sanctions on Russia are going to result in declining production of oil and gas over the next year or two. Up to 3 million bpd of oil. And similar cuts for gas. This is beginning to affect prices now as markets are frequently forward looking.
Some recent reports suggest that Saudis are already in talks with Beijing on usage of local currencies for some portion of their oil trade, something that China also has been seeking lately. Interestingly, in a recent commentary, the well-known Chinese political thinker Zhang Weiwei argued strongly in favour of a new thinking in Beijing against the backdrop of the US’ harsh sanctions freezing the foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Central Bank and removing Russia from the the Swift international settlement system. Prof. Zhang wrote:
“The current (Russian) decision to link natural gas and other raw materials to the ruble can be said to be a revolution against the hegemonic order of the US dollar. Very inspiring. As the world’s largest economy (based on purchasing power parity), the largest trader of goods, the largest consumer market and investment market, we (China) must boldly conceive and practice the construction of a financial system in the “post-American era”… We have a good hand, we have abundant natural resources, including a large amount of rare metals, we have the most complete industrial chain in the world, we are the only one in the world that can produce almost everything from the first industrial revolution to the fourth industrial revolution All product countries. Linking the renminbi to our special resources, to many products, is a new idea that we can consider.”
China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Belgian Congo 1964
Guatemala 1964
Dominican Republic 1965-66
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Lebanon 1982-84
Grenada 1983-84
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1981-92
Nicaragua 1981-90
Iran 1987-88
Libya 1989
Panama 1989-90
Iraq 1991
Kuwait 1991
Somalia 1992-94
Bosnia 1995
Iran 1998
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999
Afghanistan 2001
Libya 2011
Iraq and Syria 2014 –
Somalia 2011 –
Iran 2020 –
There is no such research afaik going on that replaces the fundamental, self-supporting energy of petroleum. All current energy sources require petroleum to be built and maintained, including nuclear, hydro, so-called renewables, etc. And as prumbly points out below, who exactly is the despot in the world?