Before the Russia-Ukraine War, which started on February 24, Europe was importing about 40 percent of the natural gas it consumed from Russia.
The aftermath of the war on the main pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe “technical” Due to problems, shipments from the country decreased significantly.
While the amount of natural gas sent by Russia to Europe via Ukraine decreased by half to 41 million cubic meters per day in May, the shipments via the Yamal-Europe pipeline were also stopped by Gazprom on the grounds of sanctions in the same period.
The technical problems experienced in Nord Stream, another important pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe, have still not been resolved as mutual accusations between Russia and Germany continue. In a statement on July 25, Gazprom pointed out that the necessary maintenance on the equipment could not be carried out due to the sanctions, and announced that it had reduced the natural gas flow to Europe via Nord Stream to 20 percent of its capacity.
Russia also decided to completely stop natural gas shipments to Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, on the grounds that they did not comply with the “payment in rubles” system, which was put into effect due to the sanctions of the Western countries.
According to the data of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the European Union (EU) imported approximately 300 million cubic meters of gas daily from Russia in July last year, while this amount fell below 100 million cubic meters as of July 2022. Thus, the amount of natural gas the EU buys from Russia decreased by 70 percent in one year.
EU tries to fill natural gas tanks
In addition to the problems experienced in natural gas with Russia, the EU wants to fill its dwindling reserves in underground storage before the winter season, when demand increases strongly.
According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data, the occupancy rate in underground natural gas storage facilities in Europe stood at 74 percent as of August 13.
In his statement last month, IEA President Fatih Birol evaluated that Europe should fill its storage facilities by more than 90 percent before the winter season, which will start on October 1, and that even in this case, supply cuts may be faced in the second half of the season.
The EU launched its gas emergency plan on 9 August, prepared for energy savings in case Russia shuts down the gas valves completely. The plan envisages that EU countries will voluntarily reduce their gas consumption by 15% by the end of March 2023, compared to the average consumption in the last 5 years. If this is not enough, it is planned to make austerity measures mandatory.
In this context, the EU Commission aims to save 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.
“All obligations towards Turkey, Serbia and Hungary will be fulfilled”
Konstantin Simonov, Director General of the Russian National Energy Security Fund, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the problems with natural gas are caused by the steps taken by Europe.
Stating that the steps taken for Gazprom infrastructures in Germany and Poland caused problems in natural gas shipments, Simonov said, “Oil and coal can be used instead of natural gas, but they are not available. Europe is trying to buy everything at any cost, but there was a shortage of investment in these industries as Europe attacked the coal, oil and gas sectors as part of the energy transformation. This was another mistake. There is no more energy surplus on the market.” said.
Simonov stated that Gazprom will not be able to solve the aforementioned problems, “Is underground gas storage facilities confiscated? Fill them yourself. Are the turbines under sanctions? Shipments via Nord Stream are reduced. For example, TurkStream is operating at full capacity. All obligations to Turkey, Serbia and Hungary will be fulfilled. Bulgaria refuses to buy Russian gas And that’s their problem, let them fix it.” he said.
Simonov pointed out that natural gas prices in Europe are at the level of 2000-2200 dollars per 1000 cubic meters, “Prices in Asia are at the level of $1600. There is no idle gas. There is only one way for Europe to lower prices. Stop politicizing the energy sector and return to normal trade. For example, what is preventing the launch of Nord Stream 2? As a result, the whole world suffering, Europe is buying gas everywhere and increasing gas prices.” used the phrases.
Daniel Gros, Member of the Board of the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), said that before the approaching winter, Europe should turn to alternative natural gas sources, especially liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Emphasizing that big plans are not needed to overcome the crisis in question, Gros said, “If governments allow prices to rise with the market, there will be strong incentives to save gas and energy in general. This should be enough to spend the winter in Europe. Poor people can be protected with direct aid, but even they must pay the high price to encourage savings. “ he said.
Noting that Europe and Asia are competing for the limited LNG pool, Gros said, “It doesn’t matter whether the US exports LNG to Europe or Asia. There is nothing Europe can do to reduce price pressure on gas in the short term. More renewable energy and more shipments from other countries in the long run will help. will.” said.
“Storage facilities work efficiently as long as there is a constant gas supply”
Stanislav Mitrahovic, Lecturer at the Financial University of the Russian Government and Specialist of the National Energy Security Fund, stated that Europe will have to choose between protecting its industry and reconciling its natural gas supply with Russia.
Pointing out that natural gas storage facilities work efficiently as long as there is a constant gas supply in winter, Mitrahovic said. “Without a stable supply, storage facilities only alleviate but do not solve the problems of consumers. In Poland, for example, storage facilities are almost full, but their capacity is 3 billion cubic meters, and the annual consumption of the country is about 20 billion cubic meters.” he said.
Mitrahovic said that it was a difficult process for Europe to expect a stable natural gas supply from Russia after it announced that Russian gas would soon become redundant.
Mitrahovic, “Europe will have to follow the path of deindustrialization. Energy-intensive plants will leave Europe for countries with cheaper energy. For example, Turkey. Turkey will have a chance to become the industry leader of the region.” made its assessment.
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