The cost of natural gas on the European sites begins to tickle the nerves of consumers of natural gas, even in the absence of the notorious seasonal factor. During the Wednesday trading session on 15 June alone, the price per thousand cubic meters rose by nearly 22% to $1270 according to the index of the Dutch hub TTF.
On the previous day we wrote about a whole bunch of factors that could contribute to continuation of “rough weather” at the Old World gas market. These include the emergency situation at the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas, the strike at Prelude LNG in Australia, as well as scheduled work on the Norwegian gas transmission networks.
On topic: Europe will be without LNG from Texas until the fall. And Spiegel tells of Moscow’s maneuver on the Baltic
But in the last 24 hours there has been a new arrival at the melodrama. And it is fate that Russia’s Gazprom is forced to play the leading role. I first wanted to formulate “politics has spoken,” but it is difficult to call the heart-breaking marasmus that resulted from both the policy of economic pressure on Russia and the breaking of the chains of economic relations between the countries politics.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller. Photo: Yandex Images
Over the past 24 hours, the Russian gas giant has reduced the flow of gas through Nord Stream in two steps from 167 million cubic meters to 100 million, and then to 67 million. The last reason was the stoppage of another Siemens gas turbine engine “due to the end of the overhaul period”.
And yesterday, Alexei Miller’s company announced the layoffs against the background of the failure to return the same German engine from overhaul. Before the work started, Siemens Energy said it could only be done in Montreal, Canada, but now Canada refuses to return the turbine to Russia, treating it as a dual-use item.
But this is not the end of the story. The piquancy of the situation is that Germany, represented by Robert Habeck, German Minister of Economics, has already accused Russia of reducing the supplies, calling the situation politically motivated. And what he said about European economic restrictions not being applied to Siemens repair works confuses the whole situation.
I suggest that crossword puzzle lovers find the culprit in this situation.
