Moscow has never made nuclear threats, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday following the first Conference of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. “Statements about mutual threats of using nuclear weapons, which we heard before the conference, are perplexing, as well as …
Read More »EU Plans for Life without Russian Gas amid Inflation Spike
European Union leaders on Friday, June 24, warned that “cheap energy is gone” and agreed to boost preparations for further cuts in Russian gas, accusing Moscow of “weaponizing” energy via a supply squeeze which Germany warned could partly shut its industry. A day after celebrations over setting Kyiv on the …
Read More »Russia Switches Oil Export Focus from Europe to Asia
Almost four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian crude oil, Urals, has seen a switch in flow from its traditional market of Europe to Asia. Since the start of the war, based on the average of March to May 2022, Indian imports of Urals crude have picked up by …
Read More »Europe Told to be Ready for Total Cut of Russian Gas
International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol has warned Europe to be prepared for the possibility of a complete shutdown of Russian gas exports this winter, calling on EU governments to widen the span of measures aimed at preparing for this scenario, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. “Europe should …
Read More »Russia Says it will Retaliate against Lithuania if Transit Blockade isn’t Lifted
Russia has summoned the European Union’s envoy to Moscow to “strongly” protest new restrictions on goods shipments to its Kaliningrad exclave through EU member Lithuania while threatening the Baltic state with “retaliation.” The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on June 21 that EU Ambassador to Moscow Markus Ederer was informed …
Read More »Europe Faces Red Alert for Gas Supply as Russia Reduces Flows
The risk of a difficult winter of gas rationing for industries and another surge in energy bills for consumers in Europe just became greater as Russia escalated the gas row with the EU by slashing supply to major customers. The significantly lower supply from Russia since last week and the …
Read More »Germany to Limit Use of Gas for Electricity Production
Germany’s economy minister said Sunday that the country will limit the use of natural gas for electricity production amid concerns about possible shortages caused by a cut in supplies from Russia. Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Germany will try to compensate for the move by increasing the burning of …
Read More »Italy Considers State of Alert over Russian Gas Cut
Italy is considering moving to a state of alert to ration gas consumption and increase gas storage following Gazprom’s gas supply cut, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported. According to the Italian emergency protocol, the state of “alert” – which is the second level on a scale of three – …
Read More »China Buys $7.5 Billion of Russian Energy with Oil at Record
China continued to snap up Russian energy products last month, including a record quantity of crude oil, lifting purchases to $7.47 billion — about $1 billion more than April and double the amount of a year ago. The increase in shipments came as the war in Ukraine entered a fourth …
Read More »Russia can Reach LNG Target
Russia still can reach its ambitious LNG expansion target despite the shift of focus to domestic technology, Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson said Friday. The importance of LNG expansion intensifies with Russian piped gas exports to the EU facing a sharp reduction in the long term, Mikhelson told a briefing on …
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