Top quotes of the day on the energy crisis
Here are the top quotes that will make you ponder more on the implications of the Ukraine invasion by Russia and how this will impact your energy future.
We start with a quote from Joachim Klement, chief strategist at broker Liberum.
“The only economies that will not recover are the ones that are exposed to the war, where the war is fought. So Ukraine’s economy will be devastated for years, if not decades.”
Klement, who is based in London
Whatever the mainstream media is telling you and despite the massive hatred in these media for Russia, the truth remains wide open.
Our energy crisis will deepen and Ukraine’s economy will be devastated.
Meanwhile, in the UK
“If wholesale gas prices double from here again, then £3,000 deals start to make sense but these tariffs are already pricing in a lot of future risk.
Joe Malinowski of the comparison site the Energy Shop
The battle in Ukraine pushed UK wholesale gas rates – the price paid by energy providers – to £4.50 per therm on Wednesday, up from £2.50 the day before. It eventually settled at around £4. Suppliers were paying around 35p per therm a year ago!
While the British seems to be hitting Russia the hardest with sanctions, these are not going to bring the prie of gas down. The UK might be in for a rougher ride with ever increasing gas prices.
At Uncle Sam’s doorstep
The head of Pioneer Natural Resources in the United States has warned that the US won’t be able to replace Russia’s energy shortfall.
What it means is the Americans must brace for higher energy prices soon while Washington under Joe Biden’s leadership is cracking Russia with hefty sanctions.
“The only way to stop Putin is to ban oil and gas exports, [But] if the Western world announces that we’re going to ban Russian oil and gas, oil is going to go to $200 a barrel, probably – $150 to $200 easy.”
The energy crunch in Germany
Germany imports roughly 55% of its gas from Russia and has long been averse to diversifying away from cheap and plentiful Russian energy sources.
The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project, which would have increased the capacity of an existing pipeline operating along a similar path, was suspended last week by Germany.
The German government also announced plans for gas and coal storage, as well as commissioning its gas market trading centre to purchase LNG from outside Russia for 1.5 billion euros, or $1.64 billion.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck says:
“It is necessary to reduce our dependence on Russian imports as soon as possible. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine makes this mandatory.”
Energy war started a long time ago
The energy war against Russia started a long time ago, well before the invasion of Ukraine. And the invasion could have something to do with this war waged by the West against Russia on its energy supply.
In January, the Europeans were already talking in direct tones on how the integration of Europe into a better network of energy security will probably help NATO to truly protect its members.
Renewables are hard to scale, and even at scale they face inherent physical limits given today’s technology: The winds blow and the sun shines on God’s timetable, not the consumer’s.
David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic
Nato, energy, Ukraine is the only equation for the Europeans. They wanted to squeeze Russia into obedience, it seems. But with President Vladimir Putin at the helm, Russia is proving a tougher nut to crack.
With Ukraine in shambles, renewable energy a long way to come and other sources of gas supply tough to find, Germany and the UK might start to freeze faster than the frozen Russian assets!