Following Russia’s announcement of drills involving the use of tactical nuclear weapons, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Moscow on Monday against deploying atomic weapons in the Ukraine war. “It is always important to say loudly that nuclear weapons must not be used in this war,” Scholz said at a press …
Read More »Russia is Bringing back Refining Capacity Hit by Ukrainian Drones
Russia has brought back online some oil refining units in recent weeks, reducing the capacity taken offline by Ukrainian drone hits to around 10%, from 14% at the end of March, calculations by Reuters showed on Monday. The refining capacity in Russia that is currently offline due to drone attacks …
Read More »U.S. has Urged Ukraine to Stop Attacks on Russian Refineries
The United States has repeatedly urged Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries due to Washington’s assessment that the strikes could led to Russian retaliation and push up global oil prices, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the exchange. The White House has …
Read More »Ukraine Steel Giant Faces 31% Drop in Steel Production
Ukrainian metals and mining group Metinvest recently reported a 31% decrease year on year in its crude steel production for 2023, citing Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country. On February 16, the company announced its decision to halt steel manufacturing activities at its assets in Mariupol, Avdiivka, and Zaporizhzhia. This …
Read More »EU to Decline Extending Agreement on Russian Gas Transit via Ukraine
The EU says that it sees no need to extend Russia’s five-year contract to supply gas to Europe via Ukraine, which is due to expire at the end of 2024. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said that alternative supplies have now been sourced by countries that were once served by the …
Read More »Novatek Resumes Fuel Processing after Ukrainian Drone Attack
Russia’s Novatek restarted earlier this week fuel processing at its complex on the Baltic Sea damaged last month in a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Novatek’s export terminal and processing site at Russia’s Ust-Luga port on the Baltic Sea was damaged in January by what …
Read More »Russia Sees Alternative Gas Routes if Ukraine Transit Deal isn’t Extended
Russia could use alternative routes to send natural gas via pipeline to Europe if the current Russia-Ukraine gas transit deal is not extended beyond its expiry date at the end of 2024, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov, however, warned that there would be logistics changes along the …
Read More »Novatek’s Baltic Terminal Attacked by Long-Range Drones from Ukraine
Ukrainian forces conducted a drone attack on Russia’s largest Baltic port over the weekend. The operation, which used two long-range drones, resulted in a massive fire at Novatek’s gas terminal with all staff evacuated. Four tankers were moored at the port at the time of the attack. They quickly left …
Read More »Ukraine Doubles Gas Imports from EU and Moldova in 2023
In 2023, Ukraine imported 4.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the European Union and Moldova, which is twice as much as in 2022. Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC said this in a post on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. “According to the latest data, in 2023, more than …
Read More »European Gas Prices again Top $400; Gazprom Requests 41.6 mcm Transit via Ukraine
The spot price for gas in Europe has again risen above $400 per thousand cubic meters after falling below that level at the end of last week. It had soared towards $500 before falling back to $355 amid concerns regarding a labor dispute and possible industrial action at LNG plants …
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